Employer withholding P45 or P60

Understanding the two documents

It helps to separate the two forms because the rules differ.

A P60 is a summary of your pay and the tax deducted in a tax year. Your employer must give a P60 to every employee still working for them on 5 April, and it must be provided by 31 May following the end of that tax year (5 April). This is a legal obligation on the employer under the PAYE regulations, and it can be provided on paper or electronically.

A P45 is issued when you leave a job. It records your pay and tax up to your leaving date and is passed to your next employer or to HMRC. Your employer must provide a P45 without unreasonable delay when your employment ends.

Legal position

An employer is legally required to issue these documents under the PAYE regulations that govern the operation of Income Tax deductions. Failure to do so is a matter that HMRC can take up with the employer, because it concerns the correct operation of PAYE rather than a contractual dispute between you and the employer. There is no separate right to sue the employer for money simply for not providing the form, but you can escalate the failure to HMRC, who can require the employer to comply.

One practical point specific to the P45: once issued, a P45 generally cannot be re-issued, because generating a duplicate can disrupt the employer’s PAYE reporting. So if you have lost yours, the employer will usually not be able to print a fresh one. That does not leave you stuck, because the underlying information is available in other ways set out below.

Practical steps to take

1. Ask the employer directly and in writing. Send a short, dated email or letter asking for the P45 (giving your leaving date) or the P60 for the relevant tax year, and keep a copy. A written request creates a record and often resolves matters quickly. If they say they already sent it, ask them to resend a P60 or, for a P45, to supply the same information in another format such as a statement of your pay and tax to your leaving date.

2. Use your online HMRC account. Much of the information on a P45 or P60 is held by HMRC. Through your Personal Tax Account or the HMRC app you can see your pay and tax figures, your employment record and details of previous employments. For many purposes, such as completing a tax return or a Self Assessment, this is enough and you do not strictly need the physical document.

3. For a new job without a P45. If you have started, or are starting, a new job and cannot get a P45, this is a common situation and easily handled. Ask your new employer for the HMRC new starter checklist (formerly the P46). Completing this lets your new employer put you on the correct tax code so you are not overtaxed, and no P45 is required.

4. Contact HMRC if the employer will not cooperate. If informal requests fail, contact HMRC and explain that your employer has not provided the P60 or P45. HMRC can supply the pay and tax information you need and can also pursue the employer over the failure to operate PAYE correctly. This is the main enforcement route, since the obligation is owed under the tax rules that HMRC administers.

If you think tax has gone wrong

The usual reason people worry about a missing P45 or P60 is fear of paying too much tax, either through an emergency tax code in a new job or an incorrect year-end position. If you end up on the wrong tax code, HMRC can correct it and any overpaid tax is normally refunded automatically through the payroll or after the end of the tax year. If you think you have overpaid, you can check and claim through your Personal Tax Account or by contacting HMRC. So a missing form does not mean you lose out financially, provided the correct figures reach HMRC.

Consider an innocent explanation first

Before treating this as a deliberate refusal, it is worth considering ordinary explanations. The employer may have sent a P60 that did not arrive, may use an electronic payslip and document portal you have not yet accessed, may not yet have reached the 31 May deadline for the P60, or may simply be unable to re-issue a P45 that has already been generated. Framing your first request as a query rather than an accusation tends to get a faster response and preserves the working relationship if you are still employed there.

When there may be a wider dispute

If the refusal to provide documents is part of a broader problem, for example unpaid wages, a disputed final payment, or a dismissal you believe was unfair, then the missing paperwork is only one strand. In that situation you may have separate claims about wages or dismissal that can go to an employment tribunal, but those are distinct from the PAYE document obligation. Acas offers free advice and an early conciliation service, and contacting Acas is a sensible step before any tribunal claim about pay or dismissal.

What I would need to know

The best route depends on a few facts: whether you have already left the job or are still employed, whether you need the document for a new employer, a mortgage or a tax return, which tax year the P60 relates to, and whether you have tried an HMRC online account yet. If you tell me which of these applies, I can point you to the most efficient option for your situation.