P60 (end of year certificate)
The annual pay-and-tax summary an employer must give everyone employed on 5 April — by 31 May, on paper or electronically.
What is a P60?
A P60 is the end-of-year certificate showing an employee's pay and the tax paid on it for one tax year (6 April to 5 April). Employers must give one to every employee still employed on 5 April, by the following 31 May, on paper or electronically.
The P60 comes from running payroll: payroll software or the payroll provider produces it after the final Full Payment Submission of the year. Anyone who left before 5 April gets no P60 from that job — their P45, issued on leaving, covers pay and tax to the leaving date — and someone employed in two jobs on 5 April gets a separate P60 from each employer.
Employees rely on the P60 to claim back overpaid tax and as proof of income for a mortgage or loan, so a missing copy becomes the employer's problem months after year end. The companion deadlines matter too: the final payroll report of the year is due on or before the last payday, and expenses and benefits must be reported by 6 July.
What matters
Start with the rule
A P60 is the end-of-year certificate showing an employee's pay and the tax paid on it for one tax year (6 April to 5 April). Employers must give one to every employee still employed on 5 April, by the following 31 May, on paper or electronically.
Write down the decision
Keep the policy, dates, calculation inputs and decision together so another person can understand what happened.
Check the current source
P60 figures and year-end deadlines follow the tax year. Re-run this process against HMRC's current annual-reporting guidance every April.
A practical checklist
For a small team, a short repeatable process beats an impressive policy nobody follows.
- List everyone employed on 5 April — each of them needs a P60
- Issue every P60 by 31 May, on paper or electronically
- Give leavers a P45 when they go rather than a P60 at year end
- Send the final Full Payment Submission on or before the last payday
- Report expenses and benefits separately by 6 July
- File each P60 with the employee's documents — payroll creates it; the HR record keeps it findable
Where software helps — and where it does not
HollyHR can keep the relevant people record, dates, documents, leave and working pattern in one place. It cannot decide a legal, medical or employee-relations question for you.
P60 figures and year-end deadlines follow the tax year. Re-run this process against HMRC's current annual-reporting guidance every April.
Check the source, not just our summary
Rules and product pages change. These are the first-party references behind this page.
Questions people ask
Is this legal advice?
No. It is a practical summary for UK small teams. Check the linked official guidance and take qualified advice for a specific or disputed case.
Why keep the source with the calculation?
Rates and rules change. Recording the inputs, date and source makes the answer reviewable instead of becoming an unexplained number in a spreadsheet.
Can HollyHR track this?
HollyHR can hold the underlying employee, working-pattern, leave and document records. It does not present itself as a legal-advice engine.
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Keep reading: Documents · For payroll bureaux