What is a P60? Everything You Need to Know
Your P60 is one of the most important tax documents you receive each year — yet many people barely glance at it. Understanding what it contains could help you claim a tax refund or secure a mortgage.
What Is a P60?
A P60 is an end-of-year certificate issued by your employer after the close of each UK tax year (5 April). It summarises your total earnings and all deductions — income tax, National Insurance contributions, and any student loan repayments — for the entire tax year you spent with that employer.
The official name is the "End of Year Certificate," but everyone calls it a P60. HMRC requires every employer operating PAYE to issue one to each employee who is still working for them on 5 April. If you left your job before 5 April, you receive a P45 instead (see below).
What Does a P60 Show?
A standard P60 contains:
- Your full name and National Insurance number — Check these carefully. An error here can cause problems with HMRC records.
- Your employer's PAYE reference number — Used by HMRC to identify your employer.
- Total pay in the tax year — This is your gross salary before any deductions, including overtime, bonuses and taxable benefits received through payroll.
- Total income tax deducted — The sum of all income tax deducted from your pay throughout the year.
- Total National Insurance contributions — Employee NI deducted across all payslips.
- Student loan deductions — If applicable, the total repaid via PAYE in the year.
- Your tax code at 5 April — The code your employer was using at year end.
- Statutory Maternity, Paternity or Shared Parental Pay received — Where relevant.
What a P60 does not show: your pension contributions (unless paid via net pay arrangement through payroll), benefits in kind (those appear on a separate P11D), or income from other sources like self-employment or rental income.
When Do You Receive Your P60?
Employers are legally required to issue P60s by 31 May following the end of the tax year. For the 2024-25 tax year (which ended 5 April 2025), your P60 must arrive by 31 May 2025. Most large employers now issue P60s electronically through their payroll portal or HR system — you may receive an email notification rather than a paper document.
If you have not received your P60 by mid-June, contact your HR or payroll department. Do not assume you will not need it — life events throughout the following year (a mortgage application, a tax refund claim, a new job's reference check) frequently require it.
Why Your P60 Matters
Most people file their P60 away and never look at it again. That is a missed opportunity. Here are the situations where your P60 is either required or extremely useful:
Mortgage and loan applications. Lenders use your P60 as authoritative proof of income. Unlike payslips, which can be for any individual month, the P60 proves your annualised earnings from an official source. Most mortgage lenders require the last two years' P60s when assessing an application.
Tax refund claims. If you overpaid income tax during the year (common after job changes, emergency tax codes, or over-withheld pension contributions), your P60 is the document HMRC uses to calculate your refund. You can also cross-reference it against your online HMRC Personal Tax Account to check whether HMRC's records match your employer's.
Self Assessment tax returns. If you need to file a Self Assessment return — for example, because you have self-employment income, rental income, or are a higher-rate taxpayer claiming pension relief — you will need your P60 to complete the "employment income" section accurately.
Pension applications and state benefit claims. Pension providers and some benefit assessors require proof of employment income. A P60 from the relevant tax year is the standard accepted document.
Verifying your tax code and deductions. Each year, take five minutes to add up your payslips and compare the totals to your P60. If there is a discrepancy, investigate immediately — errors in payroll do happen, and employers have an obligation to correct them.
What to Check on Your P60
When your P60 arrives, verify these five things:
- Your name and NI number are correct. Errors are rare but do occur, especially if you changed your name during the year.
- The total pay figure matches your cumulative payslips. Add up all your gross salary payslips from April to April. They should agree with the P60 figure to the penny.
- The total tax figure looks right. Use our income tax calculator to check what you should have paid on your gross salary. A significant discrepancy suggests an incorrect tax code was applied at some point.
- The tax code at year end (usually 1257L for most people). If your code is unusual, check whether you have untaxed income HMRC did not know about, or whether the code was incorrectly applied.
- Student loan deductions match your expected repayments. Cross-reference against our student loan calculator using your plan type and annual salary.
What If You Do Not Receive a P60?
If your employer has not issued a P60 by 31 May, contact your HR or payroll team first — they may have issued it electronically and you missed the notification. If your employer is unresponsive or has gone into administration, HMRC can provide details of your pay and tax deductions from their own records. Contact HMRC on 0300 200 3300 or check your Personal Tax Account online.
Note that HMRC cannot provide a replacement P60 itself — only your employer can do that. What HMRC can give you is a breakdown of the information they hold, which can serve as a substitute in most circumstances where a P60 would be needed.
Digital P60s
Since 2010, employers have been permitted to issue P60s electronically. A digital P60 delivered through a payroll portal, HR system or secure email is just as legally valid as a paper one. Lenders, HMRC, local councils and pension providers all accept digital P60s. The only requirement is that it must come from the employer's payroll system — a self-generated document will not be accepted.
Many large employers (NHS, civil service, retail chains) now issue exclusively digital P60s and will not produce paper versions unless specifically requested. If you leave the employer before they issue the P60 in May, check whether they maintain access to the payroll portal for former employees or whether you need to request a copy directly.
P60 vs P45 vs P11D
| Document | When Issued | What It Shows | Who Issues It |
|---|---|---|---|
| P60 | By 31 May annually | Full-year pay, tax, NI, student loan | Current employer |
| P45 | When you leave a job | Pay and tax year-to-date at leaving date | Previous employer |
| P11D | By 6 July annually | Benefits in kind (car, medical, loans) | Employer (if BIK applies) |
Related Calculators
Frequently Asked Questions
When should I receive my P60?
Your employer must issue your P60 by 31 May following the end of the tax year (5 April). For 2024-25, the deadline is 31 May 2025. If you have not received it by mid-June, contact your HR or payroll department.
What is the difference between a P60 and a P45?
A P60 is an end-of-year summary from your current employer, covering the full tax year. A P45 is issued when you leave a job mid-year and shows only your pay and tax up to that leaving date. You only receive a P60 if you are still employed on 5 April.
Can I use a digital P60 as proof of income?
Yes. Digital P60s have been legally valid since 2010. Mortgage lenders, HMRC and benefit agencies all accept them, provided they were issued by your employer's payroll system — not self-produced.