A P45 is the tax document your UK employer gives you when you leave a job. It records your pay and the income tax you’ve paid so far in the current tax year, and it lets your next employer (or Jobcentre Plus, if you’re claiming benefits) deduct the right amount of tax going forward. Getting it, handing it over promptly, and keeping your own copy will save you from overpaying tax while HMRC catches up with your new situation.
What’s On the Form
A P45 comes in four parts, each carrying the same core information but destined for a different recipient.1HM Revenue and Customs. P45 Manual
- Part 1 goes to HMRC, usually through your employer’s payroll software as part of the Full Payment Submission.
- Part 1A is your personal copy. Keep it.
- Parts 2 and 3 go to your new employer, or to Jobcentre Plus if you’re claiming Jobseeker’s Allowance or Employment and Support Allowance.
The information printed on each part includes your tax code at your leaving date, your National Insurance number, your total pay and total tax in the tax year to date, your employer’s PAYE reference number, and your leaving date. Most employers now produce P45s through payroll software, so you’ll typically receive Parts 1A, 2, and 3 as a printed or electronic document rather than a handwritten form.2GOV.UK. Getting P45, P60 and Other Forms: Employer Guide
One thing worth knowing about the figures: the UK tax year runs from 6 April to 5 April, not January to December.3GOV.UK. Self Assessment Tax Returns: Deadlines Every total on your P45 reflects earnings and tax inside that April-to-April window, up to your leaving date.
What To Do With It
What you do next depends on what comes after this job.
If you’re starting a new job, hand Parts 2 and 3 to your new employer as soon as you can. They use those figures to calculate how much tax to deduct from your first pay packet and every one after. Without it, they have no way of knowing how much of your tax-free personal allowance you’ve already used, and you’ll almost certainly overpay tax until things get sorted out.1HM Revenue and Customs. P45 Manual
If you’re not going straight into another job and plan to claim Jobseeker’s Allowance or Employment and Support Allowance, bring your P45 to your Jobcentre Plus interview. It serves as proof of your recent earnings and can also count as further proof of identity.4GOV.UK. Jobseeker’s Allowance: Your JSA Interview
Whatever your next step, keep Part 1A. It’s your personal record of what you earned and paid in tax at that job, and you may need it later for a Self Assessment return or to challenge an incorrect tax bill.
What Happens If You Don’t Have One
Starting a new job without a P45 usually means starting on an emergency tax code. The standard emergency code is 1257L followed by W1, M1, or X.5GOV.UK. Understanding Your Employees’ Tax Codes: Overview It gives you the standard personal allowance, but applies it on a “week 1” or “month 1” basis, so each pay period is treated in isolation instead of as part of a running year-to-date total.
The practical effect is that your tax is calculated as if that pay period’s earnings are your income for every period of the year, ignoring what you actually earned or already paid elsewhere. Depending on your circumstances, you could end up paying noticeably more tax than you owe.6GOV.UK. Emergency Tax Codes The emergency code stays in place until HMRC updates your records, which can take weeks.
Once HMRC has the correct information, they instruct your employer to refund any overpayment through your pay. Monthly-paid employees usually see the refund in the next pay packet or the one after; weekly-paid employees typically see it within three pay periods.7GOV.UK. Tax Codes: If You’ve Paid Too Much or Too Little Tax In the meantime, your cash flow takes the hit, which is why handing over your P45 on day one is worth prioritising.
The Starter Checklist
If you genuinely can’t produce a P45, because your former employer hasn’t sent it yet, you’ve lost it, this is your first job, or you’re returning to work after a long break, your new employer should ask you to fill in a Starter Checklist instead.8GOV.UK. Starter Checklist if You’re Starting a New Job The checklist asks you to pick one of three statements:
- Statement A: this is your first job since 6 April and you haven’t received Jobseeker’s Allowance, Employment and Support Allowance, or Incapacity Benefit. Your employer applies the full personal allowance on a cumulative basis.
- Statement B: you’ve had another job since 6 April but don’t have a P45, or you’ve received one of the benefits above. Your employer applies the personal allowance on a week 1 or month 1 basis, the same as an emergency code.
- Statement C: you have another job or receive a State, workplace, or private pension. Your employer uses the basic rate code (BR), which taxes all earnings at 20% with no personal allowance.
Picking the wrong statement leads to incorrect deductions that can take months to unravel, so read each option carefully.9HM Revenue and Customs. Starter Checklist The checklist also collects student loan and postgraduate loan information, which affects your deductions separately from income tax.
When Your Employer Has to Give It to You
Under Regulation 36 of the Income Tax (Pay As You Earn) Regulations 2003, your employer must complete your P45 and give you Parts 1A, 2, and 3 on the day your employment ends. If that isn’t practicable, they must do so “without unreasonable delay.”10Legislation.gov.uk. Income Tax (Pay As You Earn) Regulations 2003 – Regulation 36 HMRC doesn’t define an exact number of days, but in practice most employers issue the P45 after processing your final pay run.
If your former employer drags their feet, contact them in writing first. If they still don’t provide it, report the issue to HMRC, which can investigate the employer’s PAYE compliance and compel them to issue the form. While you wait, fill in a Starter Checklist at your new job so your deductions are at least roughly correct.
How a P45 Differs From a P60 and a P11D
A P60 is an end-of-year summary. If you’re employed on 5 April, your employer must give you a P60 by 31 May, showing your total pay and tax for the whole tax year at that job.11GOV.UK. Your P45, P60 and P11D Form The difference is timing. A P45 appears mid-year when you leave a job; a P60 comes at year-end for a job you’re still in. You get a separate P60 for each employer you have on 5 April.
A P11D reports taxable benefits and expenses your employer provided during the tax year, such as a company car, private medical insurance, or interest-free loans. Your employer files it with HMRC and gives you a copy so you know which benefits are being taxed.12GOV.UK. Expenses and Benefits for Employers: Reporting and Paying Not every employee gets one; only those who received benefits that weren’t already taxed through payroll.
A Note for Americans Working in the UK
The P45 is sometimes described as the UK’s Form W-2, but that comparison only goes so far. A P45 is issued when you leave a job, at any point in the year, and covers only the portion of the UK tax year you worked there. A W-2 is issued once a year after the calendar year ends, whether or not you’re still employed, and US employers must provide W-2s by 31 January of the following year.13Internal Revenue Service. Form W-2 and Other Wage Statements Deadline Coming Up for Employers A W-2 always covers January through December; a P45 can cover any slice of the April-to-April UK tax year.
The other big difference is what happens between jobs. In the UK, your P45 travels with you to your new employer and directly sets your tax code. In the US, a W-2 doesn’t transfer at all. You fill out a new Form W-4 at each job to tell them how much to withhold, and the W-2 only matters when you file your annual return.
If you’re a US citizen or green card holder, your P45 is a useful record of your UK earnings but doesn’t satisfy any US filing requirement on its own. You’ll still need to report your worldwide income to the IRS and, where relevant, deal with the Foreign Earned Income Exclusion, foreign tax credits under the UK-US treaty, and FBAR reporting for UK accounts. Those are separate obligations that sit alongside your UK payroll paperwork rather than being handled by it.