A PAYE reference number is the short code HM Revenue and Customs assigns to every employer running a payroll in the UK, and it identifies that employer’s PAYE scheme on every filing, payment record, and piece of correspondence. It’s formatted as three digits, a forward slash, then a mix of letters and numbers — something like 123/AB456. If you’re the employer, HMRC posted it to you in the welcome letter after you registered, and it’s in your Government Gateway account. If you’re an employee, look on your P60, your P45, sometimes your payslip, or in your Personal Tax Account on GOV.UK.
What the Number Looks Like
The reference has two parts separated by a slash. The three digits at the front identify the HMRC tax office that manages the scheme. The characters after the slash are the employer’s own reference, anywhere from 1 to 10 characters long, made up of letters and numbers.1HMRC Design Resources. Employer PAYE Reference – HMRC Patterns for Services A small business might have something like 123/AB456. A larger one might have 456/XY1234567. Together the two parts are unique across the whole PAYE system.
Where Employers Find It
Your reference first arrived in the welcome letter HMRC sent after you registered as an employer. Every subsequent piece of official HMRC correspondence about your payroll scheme carries it too, including coding notices and payment reminders.3HMRC Design Resources. Employer PAYE Reference – HMRC Patterns for Services
If you can’t get into your account either, the employer helpline is 0300 200 3200, Monday to Friday, 8am to 6pm. Be aware that without your PAYE reference or Accounts Office reference to hand for identity verification, the adviser can only give general guidance.2GOV.UK. Employers: General Enquiries There’s also a digital assistant on GOV.UK that can escalate to a human adviser.
Where Employees Find It
Several documents you already receive show your employer’s PAYE reference. The most reliable is your P60, the end-of-year certificate that summarises your pay and deductions for the tax year.1HMRC Design Resources. Employer PAYE Reference – HMRC Patterns for Services If you’ve recently left a job, it’s on your P45 as well. Some employers print it on payslips, though they’re not required to.
No P60 or P45 handy? Sign in to your Personal Tax Account on GOV.UK using your Government Gateway credentials, open the Pay As You Earn (PAYE) tile, and look under your PAYE Income Tax history. The PAYE reference for each employer you’ve had will be listed there. That’s especially useful when you’re chasing details for a previous job and the paperwork hasn’t caught up.
One common reason to hunt down the reference: claiming tax relief on work expenses. Form P87, for things like professional subscriptions or uniforms, asks for your employer’s PAYE reference so HMRC can match the claim to the right employment record. The form itself notes that you’ll find the reference on your P45, P60, or Personal Tax Account.4GOV.UK. P87 Tax Relief for Expenses of Employment
Numbers That Are Not Your PAYE Reference
Several UK tax identifiers get confused with the PAYE reference, and mixing them up wastes time.
National Insurance Number
Your NINO is personal to you and tracks your National Insurance contributions and state benefit entitlement. It’s formatted as two letters, six numbers, and a final letter that is always A, B, C, or D — for example, QQ 12 34 56 A.5GOV.UK. NIM39110 – National Insurance Numbers (NINOs): Format and Security The PAYE reference belongs to your employer’s scheme. Your NINO follows you across every job.
Unique Taxpayer Reference
A UTR is a 10- or 13-digit number given to individuals and businesses registered for Self Assessment or Corporation Tax.6HMRC Design Resources. Unique Taxpayer Reference – HMRC Patterns for Services It’s for annual tax returns, not payroll. You’ll usually receive one about 15 days after registering for Self Assessment.7GOV.UK. Find Your UTR Number Note that CIS subcontractors use a UTR rather than a PAYE reference, because that relationship sits under the Construction Industry Scheme.8GOV.UK. What You Must Do as a Construction Industry Scheme (CIS) Contractor
Accounts Office Reference
This is a 13-character code, formatted like 123PX00123456, used only for making payments to HMRC.9HMRC Design Resources. Accounts Office Reference – HMRC Patterns for Services It arrives in the same welcome letter as your PAYE reference when you register as an employer. For early or late payments, you add four extra digits to the end to identify the specific tax period.10GOV.UK. Pay Employers’ PAYE: Reference Numbers for Early and Late Payments Think of the PAYE reference as your identity and the Accounts Office Reference as the routing number for money going to HMRC. Using one where the other belongs is the most common payment error.
If You Don’t Have a Reference Yet
You need to register as an employer with HMRC before your first payday. Most limited companies with one to nine directors can register online through GOV.UK.11GOV.UK. Register as an Employer You can’t register more than two months before you start paying anyone, so there’s a fixed window. Once HMRC processes your registration, the PAYE reference number arrives by post. Waiting for that letter while payday approaches is stressful, so build in time.
Registration applies even if you’re the sole director of a limited company paying yourself a salary, and it applies if you hire subcontractors for construction work. CIS contractors go through the same employer registration process and receive a PAYE reference as part of setup.8GOV.UK. What You Must Do as a Construction Industry Scheme (CIS) Contractor
Why the Reference Has to Be Right on Filings
Your PAYE reference is the first thing you enter when setting up payroll software, and every Real Time Information submission carries it. If you file under an invalid reference, the Government Gateway rejects the submission and your software receives an error. If you file under a reference that is valid but belongs to a different employer, HMRC may not flag the mismatch until penalties are issued against your actual account for what looks like a missed filing.12GOV.UK. PAYE Manual – PAYE45012
Late RTI submissions attract a fixed monthly penalty scaled to workforce size:
- 1 to 9 employees: £100 per month
- 10 to 49 employees: £200 per month
- 50 to 249 employees: £300 per month
- 250 or more employees: £400 per month
You’re liable for one penalty per missed tax month per PAYE scheme.13GOV.UK. What Happens If You Do Not Report Payroll Information on Time An employer running two separate PAYE references could face double penalties. Checking that the reference on your payroll software matches the one on your HMRC welcome letter takes a minute and avoids most of this.