How to find a P60, online and on file
A P60 is always issued by the employer, never by HMRC, and it must reach every employee still on the payroll on 5 April by 31 May at the latest [1]. It can arrive on paper or electronically, and an electronic copy carries exactly the same legal weight as a printed one [2]. Finding it is rarely a matter of requesting anything; it is a matter of knowing where it was delivered.
The search splits into two questions. The first is where the document itself sits, which depends on how the employer distributes payroll paperwork. The second is where the underlying figures sit when the paper cannot be reached, which is a separate route through HMRC's own records.
Key takeaways
- The P60 comes from the employer, not HMRC, and is delivered automatically rather than on request [1].
- Many employers issue the P60 only through a payroll or HR portal, so the document often sits behind a login rather than in the post [2].
- When the certificate cannot be found, the same pay and tax figures are visible free in the HMRC personal tax account and the HMRC app [3].
- A lost P60 is replaced by the issuing employer as a copy marked 'Duplicate', not reissued by HMRC [4].
Where a P60 is issued from
A P60 is produced once a year, after the employer runs its final payroll for the tax year, and it covers the whole of that year for a single job [5]. Only an employee in post on 5 April receives one; anyone who left earlier relies on the P45 from that job instead [6].
HMRC sits behind the figures but never hands out the form. Employers report pay and tax in real time across the year, so HMRC holds the data, yet it does not generate or post the printed certificate [6]. That single fact rules out the most common wrong turn, contacting HMRC for a copy of the document itself, and points the search back at the employer or at the data behind the form.
Finding a P60 for a current job
For someone still employed, the certificate has almost certainly already been issued. The only question is which channel the employer used, and most use one of three.
In the employer's payroll or HR portal
Larger employers, and any business running modern payroll software, increasingly distribute the P60 only through a self-service portal rather than on paper [2]. The document usually sits under a heading such as 'Tax documents', 'Year-end statements' or alongside the monthly payslips. Software that holds the HMRC Recognised badge generates the certificate as a by-product of the final pay run, which is why UK payroll software tends to publish it to the portal within days of the year ending [5].
An employee who cannot see a 'Documents' area should check whether the same portal that carries the payslips has a separate year-end section, and failing that ask whoever runs the payroll where the file is published [1].
By email or on paper
Smaller employers often email the P60 as a PDF or hand over a printed copy with a pay packet [2]. An emailed certificate can hide in a spam folder or under a payroll provider's sending address rather than the employer's own name, so a search of the inbox for the tax year or the word 'P60' is usually quicker than scrolling. Where nothing turns up by early June, the employer is the first point of contact, because the legal deadline to provide the form is 31 May [1].
Finding the figures when the document is missing
If the paper cannot be found, the numbers it carries are not lost. HMRC holds the same pay and tax data from the employer's real-time submissions, and it is available free.
The personal tax account and HMRC app
The HMRC personal tax account shows pay and tax by employer and tax year, drawn from the same payroll data that feeds the P60 [3]. The PAYE section of the account lets a user view and print the figures for the current and previous tax years, and the HMRC app performs the same function from a phone [7]. HMRC does not label the output a P60, but the core content, total pay and tax deducted for each employment, is identical.
This route is the fastest way to recover the substance of a P60 without involving the employer at all, and the figures are accepted in place of the certificate for many purposes [8].
A statement of earnings for older years
For a year further back, or where formal proof is needed, HMRC issues a statement of earnings that sets out pay and tax for the period requested [8]. It is widely treated as a substitute for a P60 by lenders and other bodies that need verified income. The table below sets out the main routes to the figures and how far back each one reaches.
| Route | What it provides | Coverage |
|---|---|---|
| Employer portal or email | The P60 document itself [[2]](https://www.gov.uk/paye-forms-p45-p60-p11d/p60) | The most recent tax year, sometimes earlier years |
| Personal tax account or HMRC app | Pay and tax by employer and year [[3]](https://www.gov.uk/personal-tax-account) | Current and recent tax years |
| Statement of earnings from HMRC | A formal record of pay and tax [[8]](https://www.gov.uk/get-proof-employment-history) | Any year, including older ones |
Finding a P60 from a previous employer
A former employee cannot use a current portal once access is withdrawn, so the practical route is to ask the former employer for a copy or to fall back on HMRC's records [4]. Employers must keep PAYE records for at least three years after the end of the tax year they relate to, so a duplicate for a recent year is usually straightforward to obtain on request [9].
Where the previous employer has closed down or cannot be reached, the document is beyond recovery but the figures are not, because they sit in the personal tax account and in any statement of earnings HMRC issues [8]. Where the move involved a mid-year job change, the figures from the earlier job should already be rolled into the later employer's P60, provided the P45 was handed over in time [6].
Replacing a lost P60
When the certificate has genuinely gone missing, the replacement comes from the employer that issued it, supplied from its own payroll records and clearly marked 'Duplicate' to distinguish it from the original [4]. HMRC will not reissue the form, although it will release the data behind it [3]. A fuller employer-side walkthrough sits in the companion guide on how to get a P60.
What a found P60 should contain
Locating the document is only useful if it is complete, so it is worth checking the certificate carries every field HMRC requires. The table below lists the main content a valid P60 must show for the 2026-27 tax year [2].
| Section | What it shows |
|---|---|
| Pay and Income Tax | Pay and tax in this employment, plus any previous employment in the same year |
| National Insurance | NI category letter and employee contributions by earnings band |
| Final tax code | The code in use at year end, not a mid-year code |
| Statutory payments | SMP, SPP, ShPP, SAP, SPBP and the newer SNCP where relevant |
| Loan deductions | Student loan and postgraduate loan deductions in whole pounds |
A self-employed person who pays themselves through their own company will find the same certificate generated by their payroll, and an instant payslip generator covers the related year-round paperwork for occasional or one-off payrolls.
When no P60 ever arrives
If a P60 never appears, the starting point is the employer, because the duty to issue one by 31 May rests with the business, not with HMRC [1]. ACAS advises raising the matter with the employer first, and a persistent failure to issue the form can be reported to HMRC, which can press the employer to comply and can correct the individual's tax record from its own data [10]. Accountants who run year-end across many client schemes manage this at scale through a multi-client payroll dashboard that produces every certificate from the same filed data [5].
Conclusion
Finding a P60 is really two searches running in parallel: one for the document, which lives wherever the employer chose to publish it, and one for the figures, which always live with HMRC. Knowing that the form comes only from the employer while the data comes only from HMRC removes most of the dead ends, because it tells the searcher exactly which door to knock on for each.
As payroll moves further into portals and apps, the paper P60 matters less than the data behind it. The certificate remains the cleanest single proof of a year's pay, but the personal tax account has become the more reliable place to recover that proof when the document itself has slipped out of reach.
Frequently asked questions
Can a P60 be downloaded directly from HMRC?
No. HMRC does not issue the P60 document itself, online or by post, because the form is the employer's responsibility [6]. What HMRC does provide, free, is the same pay and tax data through the personal tax account or a statement of earnings, which is accepted in place of the certificate for most purposes [8].
Where is a P60 if the employer uses a payroll portal?
It is almost always inside that portal, under a heading such as 'Tax documents', 'Year-end statements' or near the payslips [2]. Many employers distribute the P60 exclusively through self-service software and send nothing on paper, so the document sits behind the same login that carries the monthly payslips.
How far back can a P60 be found online?
The HMRC personal tax account and app show pay and tax for the current and recent tax years, and a statement of earnings can cover older years on request [3]. The original paper certificate, by contrast, can only be reissued by the employer that produced it, and only while that employer still holds the records [9].
What if the previous employer has gone out of business?
The document cannot be reissued, but the figures remain available. HMRC holds the pay and tax data from the closed employer's real-time submissions and releases it through the personal tax account or a statement of earnings [8]. That record is widely accepted where a P60 would otherwise be needed, including for proof of income [4].
