P45, P60 and P11D explained

A P45 is handed over when you leave a job. It shows your pay and tax so far in the tax year so your next employer can tax you correctly. A P60 is the end-of-year summary from each employer you are still with on 5 April, showing total pay, tax and National Insurance for the year. A P11D lists taxable benefits and expenses your employer gave you that were not taxed through payroll. Keep all three, since they are the easiest proof of your income and tax.

P45: when you leave a job

Your employer must give you a P45 when you stop working for them. It shows:

• your leaving date
• your tax code at leaving
• your total pay and tax in that job since 6 April
• whether you had a student loan deduction.

It comes in parts. One part is for you to keep, and two go to your new employer, who uses them to put you on the right tax code from your first payday. The employer’s own part goes to HMRC, though most of this now happens electronically through payroll reporting.

Hand the P45 to your new employer’s payroll or HR team as soon as you can, ideally before your first payday. Without it you will probably be put on an emergency code, which can mean paying too much until HMRC sends the right one. See emergency tax codes.

Moving within the public sector

Moving between NHS trusts, between councils, between schools in different local authorities or between academy trusts usually counts as changing employer, so you get a P45 even though your continuous service, pension and annual leave entitlement may carry across. A move within the same employer (a promotion in the same trust, or to another school in the same multi-academy trust) normally produces none. Moving between NHS trusts covers what else changes.

If you lose it

Your old employer cannot issue a replacement P45. They can confirm the figures in a letter or email, which your new employer can use alongside the starter checklist. Your HMRC personal tax account also shows the pay and tax from your old job once it has been reported.

P60: your annual summary

If you are working for an employer on the last day of the tax year (5 April), they must give you a P60 for that year, after the tax year ends. It shows:

• your total pay for the year from that employer, including pay from a previous job in the same year if it was recorded through your P45
• total income tax deducted
• National Insurance paid, broken down by category letter
• student loan deductions
• your final tax code.

HMRC sets the deadline for employers to issue P60s, and it falls a few weeks after the tax year ends. The current date is on gov.uk. You get one P60 per employer, so a substantive post plus a separate bank or second job should mean two.

What a P60 is used for

Lenders and landlords ask for a P60 as proof of income when you apply for a mortgage, some loans or a tenancy. You need it to claim a tax refund for a previous year or complete a Self Assessment return. It is also the simplest way to check that the tax you paid looks right for the year. Claiming a tax refund explains what to do if it does not.

A lost P60 can be replaced by your employer with a duplicate copy or a statement of the same figures. The same information is in your HMRC personal tax account.

P11D: benefits and expenses

A P11D reports benefits in kind and some expenses that your employer gave you during the tax year and did not tax through payroll. Examples include:

• private medical insurance
• a car or fuel provided for private use, outside an exempt scheme
• loans at low or no interest above a certain size
• living accommodation provided by the employer, where it is taxable.

Your employer sends the P11D to HMRC and must give you a copy or the same information. HMRC uses it to adjust your tax code, often reducing your allowance in the following year. That is one of the ways a K code can arise; see K tax codes.

Many public sector employees never get a P11D. Most common public sector benefits, such as a workplace pension, a cycle to work scheme, a season ticket loan within the tax-free limit or uniform laundering, are either exempt or handled through payroll. Some employers now “payroll” benefits, taxing them through your monthly pay instead of reporting them on a P11D. When that happens your payslip shows the benefit as a notional pay item and no P11D is needed for it.

How long to keep them

Keep P60s and P45s for at least as long as you might need to claim a refund or answer a question from HMRC. Uniform and work clothing claims can be backdated for up to four previous tax years, so keep P60s for at least that long. If you do Self Assessment, HMRC’s record-keeping rules apply to you as well.

Checking them against your payslips

Your final payslip of the tax year shows the same year-to-date totals that should appear on your P60. If they differ, ask payroll why. A small difference can come from a correction made after the last payslip, and a big one is worth querying. How to read your payslip shows where the year-to-date figures sit.