What is P60?

A P60 is an end-of-year certificate that your employer must issue to every employee who is on the payroll on 5 April (the last day of the tax year). It summarises your total pay, the Income Tax deducted, and the National Insurance contributions made during the tax year. If you are employed by your own limited company, the company must issue a P60 to you as a director-employee.

The P60 contains several key pieces of information: your total pay for the year (before tax), the total Income Tax deducted through PAYE, your National Insurance contributions (both employee and, on some formats, employer), your NI category letter, your tax code at the end of the year, and your National Insurance number. If you are in a workplace pension, the employee pension contributions may also be shown.

Employers must provide P60s by 31 May following the end of the tax year. So for the 2025/26 tax year (ending 5 April 2026), your P60 must be issued by 31 May 2026. P60s can be provided electronically or on paper -- there is no requirement for a physical document. Many payroll systems now make them available through online portals.

You should keep your P60 safe as it serves as proof of income and tax paid. You will need it when completing a Self Assessment return, applying for a mortgage or loan, claiming tax credits, or dealing with any HMRC queries about your tax position. HMRC recommends keeping P60s for at least 22 months after the end of the tax year they relate to, though keeping them for six years is prudent.

Your employer's payroll system automatically generates P60 data as part of the year-end payroll process. Throughout the year, every time you are paid, your employer reports the payment to HMRC in real time through RTI (Real Time Information) submissions. The P60 is essentially a summary of all those RTI submissions for the full tax year.

If you had more than one job during the year but were only employed by one at 5 April, you only receive a P60 from that employer. The earnings and tax from your earlier job would have been reported via a P45 when you left. For Self Assessment purposes, you need both documents to complete your return accurately.

As a company director, you typically process your salary through payroll software (or your accountant does). The software handles the RTI submissions to HMRC and generates the P60 at year end. If you only pay yourself annually, the P60 will show a single payment, but it is still required.