A P60 is the form you get at the end of the tax year when you're employed PAYE. It shows all the money you've been paid and the deductions taken out of it. It's a useful piece of paperwork to have around, so keep track of it. If you ever find yourself having to prove how much tax you've paid, your P60 is one of the easiest ways to do it.
The information on your P60 is drawn from information submitted by:
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There are several reasons why you might need to show someone your P60, or to check it yourself. For example, you might need it when you're:
There's a lot of information on a P60 form. Some of it is just used to identify you, but mostly it's about telling you everything the taxman knows about your pay and taxes. You will find your name and National Insurance number near the top. You'll also see your works or payroll number.
After that, the form goes starts getting into more details. It breaks down things like the Income Tax and National Insurance contributions that have been taken from your pay. You might also see entries for student loan repayments you've made or statutory pay you've received.
Your employer should send your P60 out to you within a couple of weeks of the end of the tax year, starting 6th of April and ends on the 5th of April the following calendar year. You should have your P60 before the end of May.
P60 forms are generated automatically by HMRC and issued to your employer, errors can occur. The onus is on you to check your P60 form against your payslips and make sure everything matches up.
For instance, if you are enrolled in a salary sacrifice scheme and the amount of earnings you receive has changed, you should check that your P60 shows this.
If you have more than one job, you should check that your earnings have been consolidated to show your overall income. You may receive more than one P60 if you have multiple jobs.
You should also check that any personal tax allowances have been applied and that any business expenses you are claiming are detailed.
If you receive a state pension or a private pension, your pension provider will deduct any tax you owe before they pay you.
The payments they take will be detailed in a P60, sent to you by your pension provider.
If you get payments from more than one pension provider, HMRC will ask just one to take off the required amount of tax.
If the state pension is your only income, or you receive an income from somewhere other than a pension provider, then you need to fill out a SATR each year.
If you're self-employed you might not receive a P60, as an employer issues the form.
If you don't receive a P60 you will need evidence of your earnings, for a mortgage application you can use an SA302 that shows evidence of earnings from the last four years.
If there's something wrong in your P60, get it sorted out straight away! HMRC says it's YOUR responsibility to notice any mistakes in the form. Worse still, any slip-ups at HMRC's end can easily end up with worse things than just some overpaid tax. Fines and other penalties can sometimes spring up out of simple errors, so always check your P60.
If you do find a mistake, the first thing to do is contact the payroll department at work. You may be able to get a corrected version pretty easily. If you find you've paid the wrong amount of tax, you can contact HMRC directly.
If you're starting a new job, you cannot use a P60 instead of a P45.
If you don't have a P45, you can fill out a 'New starter checklist' form, detailing any other jobs, benefits or student loan.
Keep your P60 in a safe place for your records, but if it does get lost, you can request a replacement from your employer.
For further information and detailed explanation and examples, see our dedicated P60 section with P60 guides and calculators.