P60, P45 and P11D Explained

Three forms, three different jobs

If you are paid through PAYE, your employer sends HMRC details of your pay and tax every time you are paid. The P60, P45 and P11D are the forms that give you your own record of that information. None of them is a bill and none of them needs you to do anything with HMRC on its own, but each one is the evidence you will need if your tax ever looks wrong, if you apply for a mortgage or if you claim a refund.

The P60: your end of year certificate

The tax year runs from 6 April to 5 April. If you are working for an employer on the last day of the tax year, 5 April, they must give you a P60 by 31 May. It can be on paper or electronic.

Your P60 shows:

• your total pay for the tax year from that employer, including pay from any previous job if it was included through your P45
• the Income Tax deducted
• your National Insurance contributions
• your final tax code for the year
• any student loan or postgraduate loan deductions

Lost your P60?

Ask your employer for a copy. They can give you a duplicate, and many payroll systems let you download past P60s. You can also see your pay and tax for previous years in your HMRC personal tax account or the HMRC app, which is often enough for a refund claim.

The P45: when you leave a job

When you stop working for an employer, they must give you a P45. It shows your pay and tax from 6 April up to your leaving date, along with your tax code and student loan status.

The P45 comes in parts. The employer sends the details to HMRC, you keep Part 1A for your records, and you give Parts 2 and 3 to your new employer so they can carry on taxing you correctly from where your last job stopped.

You do not get a new P45 if you are only changing role with the same employer, and you cannot get a replacement P45 if you lose it. Your new employer can use the starter checklist, and HMRC will catch up with your correct position once both employers report your pay.

The P11D: benefits and expenses

Some things your employer gives you, other than wages, count as taxable benefits in kind. Common examples are a company car, private medical insurance and certain loans. If these are not taxed through your payroll, your employer reports them on a P11D after the tax year ends.

Your employer must send P11D information to HMRC and give you a copy of the details, or the form itself, by 6 July after the end of the tax year.

• HMRC uses the P11D figures to work out the tax due on your benefits, usually by adjusting your tax code for the current year.
• If your benefits are large compared with your allowance, you may see a K code. Our tax codes guide explains what each code means.
• Some employers payroll benefits instead, which means the tax is taken through your pay each month and there is no P11D for those benefits. The government has announced plans to make payrolling of most benefits mandatory, so check GOV.UK for the current timetable.

What to check on each form

1. Your details: name, National Insurance number and employer details should all be correct.
2. Your pay: compare it with your final payslip of the year or your leaving payslip. Our guide to reading your payslip shows where to find each figure.
3. Your tax code: if it changed during the year, the final code is the one shown.
4. Benefits: only benefits you actually received should be on a P11D.

If something looks wrong, speak to your employer first, because they produce the figures. If your tax for the year looks too high, HMRC's personal tax account shows what it has on record and how to ask for a refund.

Do I need these for Self Assessment?

If you file a Self Assessment tax return, you will use the figures from your P60 or P45 for your employment income and tax paid, and the figures from your P11D for any benefits. Keep them with your other records for the year.