To get a P45, ask your former employer: they are required to issue one when your employment ends, usually on or shortly after your last working day. If it doesn’t arrive, chase them in writing, then contact HMRC on 0300 200 3300 so your tax record can be updated directly. If you’ve lost the P45 you were given, your employer cannot reissue it, and you’ll need to complete a Starter Checklist for your new employer instead.
When Your Employer Has to Issue It
Your employer must give you a P45 whenever your employment ends, whether you resigned, were dismissed, were made redundant, or retired.1GOV.UK. Your P45, P60 and P11D Form HMRC’s employer guide says the form should be given to you “when they stop working for you.”2GOV.UK. 2026 to 2027 Employer Further Guide to PAYE and National Insurance Contributions In practice, many employers wait until they’ve run their final payroll, so a delay of a week or two isn’t unusual.
Agency workers are on a slightly different clock. The agency should issue your P45 at the earlier of two points: the end of the working relationship, or after three months with no payments made to you.2GOV.UK. 2026 to 2027 Employer Further Guide to PAYE and National Insurance Contributions
How to Chase a Missing P45
Start with your former employer. Email or write to them so you have a record, confirm your last working day, and check they have your current address. Keep it brief and factual: you’re asking when the P45 will be issued.
If they keep stalling or don’t reply, go to HMRC. You can call the Income Tax helpline on 0300 200 3300, or use the digital assistant through your personal tax account.3GOV.UK. Income Tax Enquiries Have these to hand:
- Your National Insurance number
- Your former employer’s name and PAYE reference (usually printed on old payslips)
- Your employment start and end dates
HMRC can update your tax record and send the correct tax code to your new employer without the physical P45.4GOV.UK. Tell HMRC About a New Employee – Late P45 Because employers report pay and tax to HMRC each time they run payroll under Real Time Information, HMRC often already holds the figures the P45 would show.
If the Employer Has Gone Out of Business
When a company has entered administration or stopped trading, getting a P45 from them may be impossible. Contact HMRC directly with whatever documentation you have. Payslips are particularly useful because they show your tax code, pay, and deductions, and HMRC can piece together your position from the Real Time Information submissions made while you were employed.
Why This Matters: Emergency Tax
The reason a P45 is worth chasing is what happens without one. If your new employer starts paying you before they have the P45 or a Starter Checklist, they’ll typically apply the emergency tax code. For the 2026-27 tax year, that code is 1257L.5GOV.UK. P9X Tax Codes to Use From 6 April 2026 It gives you the standard Personal Allowance, but it’s often operated on a Week 1 or Month 1 basis, which means tax is worked out only on that pay period rather than being spread across the year. You usually pay more tax than you should, especially if you start partway through the tax year.
Emergency tax is temporary. Once HMRC issues a proper code to your new employer, the deductions correct themselves and any overpayment comes back through later pay packets. That correction can take weeks, though, which is why getting HMRC the right information quickly, whether through the P45 or by calling them, is worth the effort.
If You’ve Lost Your P45
Employers cannot issue a duplicate P45. The form is produced once, and your former employer cannot simply reprint it if yours has been lost or damaged.
What you do instead is fill in a Starter Checklist and give it to your new employer. The checklist collects the information your employer needs to set you up on payroll and work out an initial tax code.6GOV.UK. Starter Checklist if You’re Starting a New Job You’ll need to know:
- Whether you’ve had another job or pension since 6 April, the start of the current tax year
- Your National Insurance number
- Your new job’s start date
- Your student or postgraduate loan plan, if you have one
- Whether you’ve received Jobseeker’s Allowance, Employment and Support Allowance, or Universal Credit since 6 April
The Starter Checklist isn’t a perfect substitute for a P45 because it doesn’t carry your exact year-to-date pay and tax figures, but it gets you onto payroll and starts the process of HMRC issuing the correct code.6GOV.UK. Starter Checklist if You’re Starting a New Job
Check What HMRC Already Knows
While you’re waiting on the P45 or trying to sort out an emergency tax code, sign in to your personal tax account on GOV.UK. You can view your current tax code, see the income HMRC has recorded from your jobs and pensions, and update your employer details if something looks wrong.7GOV.UK. Check Your Income Tax for the Current Year The HMRC app has the same features.
If your former employer filed their Real Time Information correctly, HMRC’s records may already be up to date even before the paper P45 lands. You can see this for yourself in the tax account, and if something is missing or off, tell HMRC through the account or by phone rather than waiting on the form.