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UK Payroll Glossary

P60

A P60 is the end-of-tax-year summary an employer gives to every employee who is still on the payroll on 5 April. It shows the total pay, total Income Tax, and total National Insurance for the year, plus the tax code in use. The P60 is the document HMRC, banks, and mortgage brokers usually ask for when they need proof of UK earnings. Employers must issue it by 31 May each year, on paper or as a PDF.

Last updated May 2026

What's on a P60 and what it's for

A P60 is a one-page summary. Every UK employer uses roughly the same layout, so the figures appear in the same place no matter which payroll software produced it:

  • Total pay for the year — gross pay from this employer between 6 April and 5 April.
  • Total Income Tax deducted through PAYE for the same period.
  • Total National Insurance by category letter.
  • Tax code in use on the last payslip of the year.
  • Employer PAYE reference and the employee's National Insurance number.

People need P60s for three things, mostly: mortgage applications (lenders accept it as proof of income), tax refund claims (HMRC and tax-refund agents ask for the figures), and second-job reconciliation (so the other employer or HMRC can adjust the tax code if it's off). It's worth keeping every P60 for at least six years.

When and how you get it

Employers have until 31 May following the end of the tax year to give a P60 to every employee who was on the payroll on 5 April. So a P60 for the 2026/27 tax year arrives by 31 May 2027.

It can be paper or PDF — HMRC allows both, and most modern payroll software produces it as a PDF. If you've left an employer mid-year, you do not get a P60 from them at year-end; you got a P45 when you left instead.

The P60 doesn't add anything new to HMRC's records. By the time it's printed, the figures have already been reported in real time across the year via FPS submissions. The P60 just collates what was sent so you and your bank can see the year's totals in one document. If you spot a mistake, ask your employer to check the payroll figures and reissue — they own the underlying data.

P60 vs P45 — common confusion

A P60 is what you get while still employed at year-end. A [P45](/glossary/p45) is what you get when you leave a job. Same idea — a summary of your pay and tax from that employer — but different timing.

If you change jobs in the middle of a tax year you'll receive a P45 from the old employer (showing pay and tax to your leaving date), then a P60 from the new employer the following May (showing pay and tax for the part of the year you worked there). You should keep both: between them, they cover the whole year for HMRC, refunds, and mortgage applications. Mortgage lenders sometimes ask for the most recent P60 and any P45s from jobs within the look-back window.

In Ghugi terms: P60s are PDFs the same way payslips are PDFs — Ghugi delivers them to the right employee in the same flow you use for monthly payslips. Drag the year-end P60s in from your payroll software, Ghugi matches each one to the employee, and they land in inboxes encrypted and on-time.

Related terms

P45A P45 is the form an employer gives an employee when they leave.PAYEPAYE is HMRC's system for collecting Income Tax and National Insurance directly from employees' wages before the money reaches…PayslipA payslip is the document showing what an employee was paid for a specific period — usually a week or a month.Payroll year endThe UK tax year runs from 6 April to 5 April. "Payroll year end" is the work an employer does to close one tax year and open the…Tax codeA tax code tells your employer (through PAYE) how much tax-free income you're entitled to in the tax year.

Authoritative source

HMRC: P60 →

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Disclaimer: This glossary is for general guidance. Specific UK tax thresholds and statutory rates are checked at publication and re-reviewed every April; always verify against the official gov.uk pages for the current tax year. Ghugi is not a payroll provider and does not give tax or legal advice. For your situation, ask your accountant or HMRC directly.