P60

A P60 is the end-of-year certificate an employer must give to every employee who is still on the payroll on 5 April, the last day of the tax year. It summarises total pay, Income Tax and National Insurance for the year, and must be provided — on paper or electronically — by 31 May.

What employees use it for

The P60 is one of the most-requested documents in any workplace, because everyday life keeps asking for it:

• Claiming a tax refund or querying a tax code with HMRC.
• Applying for a mortgage, a tenancy or credit, where it serves as proof of income.
• Applying for benefits or student finance.

Encourage staff to keep their P60s — replacing one later means asking the employer for a duplicate or digging through HMRC records.

The employer's side

Payroll software produces P60s automatically from the year's Real Time Information submissions, so the main duties are simply accuracy through the year and hitting the 31 May deadline. Someone who left before 5 April doesn't get a P60 from you — their P45 covered their leaving figures.

Income Tax (Pay As You Earn) Regulations 2003 — deadline of 31 May after the tax year ends; guidance on GOV.UK.

Related terms

• P45
• PAYE
• Payslip