A P60 is the end-of-year certificate showing an employee's pay and the tax deducted in one job over the tax year. Our guide to the P60 explains what each box means. This post is about timing: when the P60 has to arrive, who gets one, and what to do when it doesn't come or goes missing. It is written for both sides: employees waiting for one, and small employers who have to issue them.
When do you get your P60?
By 31 May. GOV.UK says employers must give a P60 to every employee on the payroll who is working for them on the last day of the tax year, 5 April, and must do it by 31 May.
| Tax year | Ends | P60 due by |
|---|---|---|
| 2025/26 | 5 April 2026 | 31 May 2026 |
| 2026/27 | 5 April 2027 | 31 May 2027 |
The employer can only produce it once the last payroll of the tax year has been reported to HMRC, so it can arrive any time from early April. If it hasn't arrived by 1 June, the employer is late.
Who gets a P60, and who doesn't
- Everyone on the payroll on 5 April gets one, including part-time staff and company directors paid through PAYE.
- You get a separate P60 for each job you are in on 5 April.
- If you left a job during the tax year, that employer gives you a P45 when you leave, not a P60.
- Self-employed people don't get a P60; there is no employer to issue one.
Our guide to P60 vs P45 sets out the difference between the two forms in more detail.
Paper or electronic?
Either. GOV.UK says the P60 can be given on paper or electronically, so an employer can email it or put it in an online payslip portal. Employers don't have to use HMRC's printed form: HMRC's RD1 specification allows a substitute P60 of the employer's own design if it shows everything required and is marked as a substitute.
What the employer has to do first
- Send the final payroll report of the tax year to HMRC on or before the employees' last payday of the year.
- Check each employee's year-to-date pay and tax against that final report.
- Produce a P60 for everyone employed on 5 April, from payroll software or as a substitute form.
- Give each employee their P60 by 31 May.
- If a P60 is wrong, give a replacement P60 marked as a replacement, or a letter confirming the change.
My P60 is late: what can I do?
Ask your employer or its payroll team first, in writing if you can, and mention the 31 May deadline. Most late P60s are a payroll backlog. If the employer has closed down or won't reply, the information the P60 would show is still available to you from HMRC: your personal tax account and the HMRC app show your pay and tax for each job, and you can contact HMRC for the details.
Lost P60: how to get a replacement
GOV.UK says to ask your employer for a duplicate. If you can't get one from the employer, you can get the same figures through your personal tax account, the HMRC app, or by contacting HMRC. For an employer, a duplicate is simply the same P60 issued again from your payroll records for that tax year; keep those records so you can do this.
A P60 is issued by the employer from its payroll record for a real employment. It is never something to create for a job or pay that didn't happen.
Directors and one-person companies
A company director paid through PAYE is an employee for this purpose, so a director on the payroll on 5 April gets a P60 like anyone else, even when the director is the company's only employee. In a one-person company that usually means the director issues their own P60 from the company's payroll by 31 May. Our page on payslips for company directors covers the rest of the director's paperwork.
Employees use the P60 to check that the tax they paid matches what they expected and, where it doesn't, to claim back overpaid tax. Employers use the same figures to check the year's payroll before they close it, so it is worth comparing each P60 with the final payslip of the year before handing it over.
Where PayDocs fits
For a small employer without payroll software that prints P60s, the PayDocs P60 generator lays out a substitute P60 from your payroll figures for 2025/26 or 2026/27: the year's pay and tax, the final tax code, National Insurance by category letter and any statutory pay. You preview it free. It doesn't send your final payroll report to HMRC; your payroll still does that.
This is general information about HMRC rules for the 2026/27 tax year, as published on 7 October 2026. It is not tax or legal advice.
Questions
When do you get your P60?
By 31 May, if you were working for the employer on 5 April, the last day of the tax year. For the 2026/27 tax year that means by 31 May 2027, on paper or electronically.
Do I get a P60 if I left my job?
No. If you left during the tax year, that employer gives you a P45 when you leave instead. You only get a P60 from each employer you are working for on 5 April.
Can my employer send my P60 by email?
Yes. GOV.UK says a P60 can be given on paper or electronically, so an email or an online payslip portal is fine, as long as it reaches you by 31 May.
What if I lose my P60?
Ask your employer for a duplicate first. If that isn't possible, the same pay and tax figures are in your personal tax account and the HMRC app, or you can contact HMRC for them.
What should an employer do if a P60 is wrong?
Give the employee a replacement P60 marked as a replacement, or a letter confirming the change. GOV.UK allows either, so choose whichever your payroll process makes easier.
Sources
- GOV.UK: P45, P60 and P11D forms, P60
- GOV.UK: Payroll annual reporting, give your employees a P60
- GOV.UK: Payroll, annual reporting and tasks
Sources checked 7 October 2026. This article explains how pay documents work; it is not tax or legal advice.
