Payslips, P60 and P45: what to keep and why

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Three pieces of paper decide whether your tax gets sorted out quickly when something goes wrong: the payslip, the P60 and the P45. Most people keep none of them in any order, and then need all three in the same week, when a new job starts or a mortgage application asks for proof of income. This article covers what each one shows, when it arrives, which are worth keeping, and a routine that takes ten minutes a month.

The payslip

Your employer has to give you a payslip if you are an employee or a worker, on or before payday. It can be on paper or electronic, which is the employer's choice. It must show your earnings before and after deductions, the deductions that change each time you are paid (income tax and National Insurance, for example), and your hours if your pay varies with the time you work. Contractors and freelancers are not covered by that rule.

The GOV.UK payslips page gives no length of time to keep them if you are an employee, so any rule is a judgement. A practical one: keep the payslip for the last month of each tax year in full, because it carries the year-to-date totals, and keep every payslip until you have compared the year's total with your P60. If your employer uses an online portal, download them before you leave a job, because access to the portal usually ends with your employment.

The calculator on this site works the other way round. Enter your salary on the take-home pay calculator and compare the answer with a recent payslip. A gap of a few pounds can be a pension scheme or a benefit in kind. A gap of tens of pounds a month is worth a closer look at your tax code, which the guide to tax codes explains line by line.

The P60

If you are working for an employer on 5 April, they must give you a P60 for the tax year that has just ended, and they have until 31 May to do it. It can be on paper or electronic. You get a separate P60 for each job you held on that date.

It shows the tax you paid on your salary that year. GOV.UK gives two uses: claiming back overpaid tax, and proving your income when you apply for a loan or mortgage. If you lose it, ask your employer for a replacement. If they cannot provide one, the information is in your personal tax account or the HMRC app, and HMRC will give it to you on request.

A P60 only covers people in the job on 5 April. Leave before then and the P45 is the document for that job.

The P45

Your employer should give you a P45 when you leave. It shows your leaving date, your total pay and tax from 6 April to that date, your tax code and your National Insurance number. If it is on paper, you give Parts 2 and 3 to your new employer and keep Part 1A yourself. If you are not working and claiming taxable benefits, it goes to Jobcentre Plus.

This is the one paper that cannot be replaced. GOV.UK says you cannot get a duplicate; instead, you fill in a starter checklist at the new job, and you can get your pay and tax details for the last five tax years from your personal tax account or the HMRC app. GOV.UK warns that without a P45 you might pay the wrong amount of tax, and the site's FAQ explains how an emergency code can make a first payslip smaller than expected.

So the P45 is the paper that earns a proper place in the folder. Photograph or scan it the day you get it.

Who needs to keep records for longer

If you file a Self Assessment return, the rule is firmer. GOV.UK says to keep your records for at least five years after the 31 January submission deadline for the tax year. A return filed online by 31 January 2024 for 2022 to 2023 means keeping the records until at least the end of January 2029. That applies to records of income as well as expenses, so a payslip behind a Self Assessment return falls under the longer period.

A filing routine that works

The aim is that nothing needs searching for. Three folders are enough.

1. Current year. Payslips in date order, with the tax year starting on 6 April, not 1 January. A Ad lever arch file with dividers holds a year of monthly payslips without needing a clip.
2. Permanent. P60s and P45s, one per year or job, with the newest at the front. A Ad twelve-pocket expanding file works if you move house often.
3. Scanned copies. A phone photo of each paper, saved to a folder named by tax year. A Ad portable document scanner is faster if there are a lot of pages.

Do the routine once a month, on payday:

• File the new payslip.
• Check the tax code on it against the code shown in your HMRC personal tax account, which covers 6 April 2026 to 5 April 2027. 1257L is the code most people with one job have, and it reflects the standard £12,570 Personal Allowance.
• Compare take-home pay with the calculator if anything has changed.

In April and May, add two steps: confirm the P60 has arrived (it is due by 31 May), and check its total pay and tax against the final payslip.

When it is time to throw things away

Paper with your National Insurance number, tax code and address on it is personal data. When a payslip falls outside whatever period you have decided on, shred it rather than put it in the recycling. A Ad cross-cut paper shredder is a small purchase that stops identity details turning up in the bin.

Keep the P45s and P60s for good. They are single sheets, they cost nothing to store, and they are the papers HMRC and lenders ask about.

Labels and boxes

A few small items make the system hold up after the first month. Adhesive Ad file folder labels take away any guesswork about which year is which. A Ad document box file with a lid keeps the older years in one place on a shelf.

Nothing here needs buying to work. A shoebox and a pen do the same job. The only thing that matters is that the P45 and the last P60 can be found in under a minute.