P32, P45, P46 & P60 Forms Explained
HMRC forms prefixed with a ‘P’ relate to payroll and together with SL forms (student loans) should be forwarded to your payroll processor. Similarly SA forms relate to self-assessment, CT to corporation tax, these forms should be forwarded to the accountant dealing with your tax affairs.
P32 – employer payment summary
You would normally submit an employer payment summary (EPS) when you recover statutory payments, which reduces your liability and the amount you owe HMRC. It includes supplementary information about your company’s tax and NI liability, such as employment allowance and small employers’ relief. You can also enter any values external to your payroll that reduces your liability to HMRC, such as Construction Industry Scheme (CIS) deductions suffered.
P45 – is given to you by your employer when you stop working for them.
Your P45 shows how much tax you’ve paid on your salary so far in the tax year (6 April to 5 April).
A P45 has 4 parts (Part 1, Part 1A, Part 2 and Part 3).
- Your employer sends details for Part 1 to HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) and gives you the other parts.
- You give Part 2 and 3 to your new employer (or to Jobcentre Plus if you’re not working).
- Keep Part 1A for your own records.
P46 – New starter form now replaced by a ‘starter checklist’
You need to get certain information from your employee so you can set them up with the correct tax code and starter declaration on your payroll software. You’ll usually get most of this information from the employee’s P45, but they’ll have to fill in a ‘starter checklist’ (which replaced the P46 form) if they don’t have a recent P45.
P60 – Summary of pay and deductions for the year
You give a P60 to all employees on your payroll who are working for you on the last day of the tax year (5 April). The P60 summarises their total pay and deductions for the year.