P60 for 2025 to 2026: what it shows and what to check

What the deadline means

Other dates, as GOV.UK states them

• GOV.UK says HMRC calculates everyone's Income Tax between June and November, and that you cannot check your Income Tax for last year if you paid any part of your Income Tax last year through Self Assessment.
• For records kept for a tax return, GOV.UK says to keep them for at least 22 months after the end of the tax year the return is for if you send the return on or before the deadline, or for at least 15 months after you sent it if you send it after the deadline.
• GOV.UK's guide for employers says an employer must report expenses and benefits to HMRC by 6 July.

Why you got it

HMRC's P60 specification says employers must give a P60 to every employee who is in their employment on the last day of the Income Tax year, 5 April, and who has had earnings at or above the National Insurance Lower Earnings Limit, Income Tax or National Insurance contributions deducted from pay, Student Loan or Postgraduate Loan deductions made from pay, or one of the statutory payments: Statutory Maternity Pay, Statutory Paternity Pay, Statutory Shared Parental Pay, Statutory Adoption Pay, Statutory Parental Bereavement Pay or Statutory Neonatal Care Pay.

GOV.UK's guide to keeping records lists the P60 among the documents about pay and tax to keep: if you are in a job on 5 April, it shows your pay and tax for the tax year.

Got a letter from HMRC? Paste it into the checker for a plain-English identification.

Your options

1. Use it to check what your employer deducts

   The form says the P60 also helps you check that your employer is using the correct National Insurance number and deducting the right rate of National Insurance contributions.

2. Ask your employer or pension provider

   GOV.UK says to contact your employer if you do not have your P60, P45 or form P11D.

3. Use your personal tax account or the HMRC app

   GOV.UK says that in your personal tax account you can check your Income Tax estimate and tax code, check your income from work and how much Income Tax you paid in the previous 5 years, and claim a tax refund.

4. Contact HMRC

   HMRC's Income Tax enquiries line is 0300 200 3300. The Income Tax enquiries line is open Monday to Friday, 8am to 6pm, and closed on bank holidays. Post for PAYE and Income Tax queries goes to Pay As You Earn and Self Assessment, HM Revenue and Customs, BX9 1AS.

For records that you must keep for a Self Assessment return, GOV.UK says HMRC can charge a penalty if your records are not accurate, complete and readable.

What a P60 shows

The year and the pay

HMRC's form P60 is titled 'End of Year Certificate'. HMRC's P60 for the 2025 to 2026 tax year is headed 'Tax year to 5 April 2026'. GOV.UK gives the tax year that a P60 covers as 6 April to 5 April.

HMRC's P60 specification requires pay and tax to be shown three ways: 'In previous employments', 'In this employment' and 'Total for year'.

The form lists the statutory payments again in a separate part, which it describes as payments included in the pay figure for this employment.

Where an employer shows superannuation contributions on the P60, HMRC's specification gives this note as one that may be suitable beside the pay figure: 'This is your gross pay less any superannuation contributions or charity donations which we've allowed against your tax. Use this figure for your tax return, if you get one.'

National Insurance

HMRC's P60 specification requires National Insurance contributions information, with earnings recorded in bands: earnings at the Lower Earnings Limit (where earnings are equal to or exceed it), earnings above the Lower Earnings Limit up to and including the Primary Threshold, earnings above the Primary Threshold up to and including the Upper Earnings Limit, and the employee's contributions due on all earnings above the Primary Threshold.

The specification says the National Insurance details must be shown separately for each table letter used during the year.

Student Loan and Postgraduate Loan

The specification requires the Student Loan deductions and the Postgraduate Loan deductions in this employment to be shown.

Statutory payments

The specification requires the Statutory Maternity Pay, Statutory Paternity Pay, Statutory Shared Parental Pay, Statutory Adoption Pay, Statutory Parental Bereavement Pay and Statutory Neonatal Care Pay paid to be shown.

The tax code

HMRC's P60 specification requires the final tax code to be shown, including the 'Week 1' or 'Month 1' indicator if there is one.

Names and references

HMRC's P60 specification lists what employers must by law show on a P60: the tax year to 5 April, the employer PAYE reference, the employee's National Insurance number if known, the employee's name, and the employee's payroll number where appropriate. The specification requires the employer's full name and address, including the postcode, to be shown.

A P60 for a pension

HMRC's specification allows a simplified P60 for a pension payroll or an annuity payroll: the wording can say pensioner or annuitant instead of employee, and the National Insurance, statutory payment, Student Loan and Postgraduate Loan boxes are not needed.

What to check it against

Your payslips

GOV.UK says most employees have National Insurance category letter A, and that employees can find their category letter on their payslip.

GOV.UK says student loan repayments are taken out of an employee's salary at the same time as tax and National Insurance, that your payslips will show how much has been deducted, and says to check your employer has you on the correct repayment plan.

If you are self-employed or complete a Self Assessment tax return for another reason and are also employed, GOV.UK says to check your payslips or P60 to see how much of your loan you have paid off during the tax year, and that you will need to include this information when you fill in your tax return.

Your tax code

Your tax code is used by your employer or pension provider to work out how much Income Tax to take from your pay or pension. HMRC tells them which code to use, and you get a tax code for each job or pension you have. GOV.UK says you can find your tax code by checking it online, in the HMRC app, on your payslip, or on a Tax Code Notice letter from HMRC.

GOV.UK says 1257L is the tax code currently used for most people who have one job or pension. GOV.UK says the letters in a tax code refer to your situation and how it affects your tax-free Personal Allowance and the rates of tax you pay, and that the calculation is different if you have a K in your tax code.

GOV.UK says a code starting with S means your income or pension is taxed using the rates in Scotland.

GOV.UK says you are on an emergency tax code if your code ends in W1, M1 or X. Your tax is then worked out on what you are paid in that week or month only, which could mean you pay the wrong amount of tax.

GOV.UK says that if you are on the wrong tax code, you may pay too much or too little tax, and that you can get a refund or pay the tax you owe once HMRC has your income details for the tax year.

• GOV.UK: Check what your tax code meansGOV.UK's tax code checker lets you find out what the letters and numbers in your tax code mean, see how much Income Tax you are due to pay, update your records if something is wrong and understand the deductions included in your code. It asks for your tax code, your annual income before any deductions, company benefit details and your State Pension amount.

The Personal Allowance and the rates for the year

The standard Personal Allowance is £12,570 in each tax year from 2023 to 2024 to 2026 to 2027. The Personal Allowance goes down by £1 for every £2 of income above the £100,000 limit.

In England, Northern Ireland and Wales the basic rate of Income Tax is 20%. In England, Northern Ireland and Wales the higher rate of Income Tax is 40%, on income after allowances from £37,701 to £125,140.

HMRC's own record of the year

GOV.UK says your employer also gives HMRC the information it tells you about your taxable income on the P45, P60 and P11D forms.

• GOV.UK: Check how much Income Tax you paid last yearGOV.UK says that once your Income Tax has been calculated, you can sign in to check how much you paid from 6 April 2025 to 5 April 2026, and that you can also use the HMRC app to check how much Income Tax you paid last year.
• GOV.UK: Personal tax accountGOV.UK's personal tax account page is where you sign in or set up an account to check your records with HMRC.

What a P60 is used for

Proof of tax paid, loans and mortgages

GOV.UK says you will need your P60 to prove how much tax you have paid on your salary, for example to claim back overpaid tax, or as proof of your income if you apply for a loan or a mortgage. GOV.UK adds that you can check how much tax you paid last year if you think you might have paid too much.

A tax return

HMRC's P60 specification says employees who need to fill in a tax return will need to enter the pay and tax 'In this employment' figures on the return.

GOV.UK says you need to keep records if you have to send HMRC a Self Assessment tax return, because you will need them to fill in the return correctly.

Benefits and tax credits

The form also says you need it to make a claim for tax credits and Universal Credit, or to renew your claim. GOV.UK says tax credits ended on 5 April 2025, that you cannot make a new claim for Child Tax Credit or Working Tax Credit, and that you may be able to get Universal Credit or Pension Credit instead.

Keeping it

The form asks you to keep the certificate in a safe place, as you will need it if you have to fill in a tax return.

GOV.UK's student loan guide says to keep your payslips and your P60 for your records, because you will need them if you want to get a refund.

• GOV.UK: Keeping your pay and tax recordsGOV.UK's guide Keeping your pay and tax records covers the personal pay and tax records you must keep to fill in a Self Assessment tax return: which records to keep and how long to keep them.

If it is lost, missing or wrong

Lost or missing

HMRC's specification says duplicate P60s, on paper or electronic, no longer need to carry a 'duplicate' annotation, and that a substitute P60 made from the output of an electronic P60 must carry the text 'This is a printed copy of an eP60'. It adds that each printout is a copy in its own right.

On its P45 page GOV.UK says that if you need your P45 details for another reason, you can view and download your pay and tax details for the last 5 tax years in your personal tax account or the HMRC app.

Wrong figures

GOV.UK's guide for employers says that if a P60 needs to change, the employer gives the employee either a new P60 marked 'replacement', on paper or electronic, or a letter confirming the change.

On its P45 page GOV.UK says that if the pay or tax amounts on a P45 are wrong, you ask your previous employer to correct the details and send you an amended P45. If you cannot get one, you can tell HMRC that your details are wrong using the check your Income Tax online service, and HMRC will then contact the employer and ask them for the correct details.

• GOV.UK: Your P60GOV.UK's guide Your P45, P60 and P11D form has a part on the P60: what it shows, when you get it, what you need it for and what to do if you do not have one.

P60, P45 and P11D: how they differ

GOV.UK says your employer tells you about your taxable income using different forms: a P45 if you stop working for them, a P60 if you are working for them at the end of the tax year, and a P11D if you get company benefits.

P45: leaving a job

GOV.UK says a P45 tells you your leaving date, your total pay and tax from 6 April until the date you left, and your tax code, and that it also includes personal details such as your National Insurance number.

GOV.UK says that if you have lost your P45, or your employer says they sent one but you did not get it, you cannot get a replacement.

P11D: benefits in kind

Your employer might submit a P11D to tell HMRC if you get benefits in kind, for example a company car or an interest-free loan.

GOV.UK says your employer may take the tax you owe on your benefits out of your pay. In that case they will not need to submit a P11D, and they will write to you to explain how this works.

GOV.UK says you can ask your employer for a record of what they reported in the P11D, including how much each benefit is worth, and that if they cannot give you one you can contact HMRC.

When HMRC writes about the same year

GOV.UK says that after the end of the tax year HMRC gets income details from employers, pension providers and the benefits office, checks how much tax you have paid, and sends you a letter if you have not paid the right amount.

A tax calculation letter (P800)

GOV.UK says you might get a tax calculation letter (P800) if you owe tax or are owed a refund because you were put on the wrong tax code, finished one job and started a new one and were paid by both in the same month, started receiving a pension at work, or received Employment and Support Allowance or Jobseeker's Allowance.

HMRC will usually collect tax owed on a P800 by changing your tax code, which increases the tax taken from your wages or pension, usually in equal instalments for 12 months from the start of the following tax year.

A Simple Assessment

GOV.UK says you may get a Simple Assessment if you owe Income Tax that cannot be collected through your tax code, owe £3,000 or more in tax, need to pay tax on your State Pension, or have untaxed income such as savings interest or dividends.

GOV.UK suggests checking the amounts against your records, for example your P60 or P45, bank statements, letters from the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) or Social Security Scotland, and pension or benefits summaries.

The guides on this site to the P800 tax calculation letter and to the Simple Assessment letter go into each in full.

If you were not working for your employer at the end of the tax year

Your employer should give you a P45 when you leave a job. GOV.UK says you will only get these forms if you are an employee.

What the form says about other income

The form ends its note to you by saying that by law you are required to tell HMRC about any income that is not fully taxed, even if you are not sent a tax return.

If you want to ask an adviser

• Do the pay, tax and National Insurance figures on my P60 match my payslips for the year?
• Is the tax code on it the right one for my circumstances, and does it allow for all my income and benefits?
• Does anything on it need to go on a tax return, and which of its figures?
• If a figure looks wrong, who corrects it, my employer or HMRC, and how?
• Could my Student Loan deductions for the year be wrong, for example if my employer used the wrong repayment plan?