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HMRC Starter checklist for new employees (the old P46)
The Starter checklist gives a new employer the details they need to put you on the payroll and use the right tax code when you do not have a P45, or when you have a student loan.
HM Revenue & Customs · Edition shown: HMRC 12/25 · 4 pages
fenfill is a private company. This page is not run by, affiliated with, or endorsed by HM Revenue & Customs. You can get the blank form from HMRC directly. You give the filled form to your employer yourself. fenfill never sees what you type.
HMRC also has an online route: Fill in the starter checklist online.
This page is general information, not legal, tax or immigration advice, and not a substitute for advice from a qualified professional.
Who uses Starter checklist
Fill in the Starter checklist if you are starting a job and do not have a P45 from your last employer. You should also fill it in if you have a student or postgraduate loan, whether or not you have a P45. Your employer may ask for it even if you give them a P45.
HMRC says you may be asked for it if you are starting your first job or first job in the UK, returning to work after a break, starting a job after being self-employed, working for more than one employer, or if your personal details differ from those on your P45.
If you have been sent to work in the UK by an overseas employer, HMRC publishes a separate starter checklist for seconded employees. If you have already had your first pay, do not use the checklist: check your tax code with HMRC's Income Tax online service instead.
How and where to send it
The checklist goes to your new employer, not to HMRC. The form itself says "Do not send this form to HMRC". You can email, post or hand it to your employer.
Your employer uses your answers to add you to their payroll, work out your tax code and student loan deductions for your first pay, and tell HMRC that you have started working for them. HMRC also offers the checklist as an online form; it cannot be saved as you go, so gather your details first.
Fees
HMRC does not list any fee for the Starter checklist. It is a form you give to your employer, so there is nothing to send or pay to HMRC.
Deadlines
There is no fixed HMRC deadline. The form asks you to give it to your employer as soon as possible, and HMRC's guidance says to ask your employer when they need it by.
Your employer must keep the information from the checklist for the current tax year and the next 3 tax years.
Common mistakes
- Ticking more than one of statements A, B and C. Answer questions 8 to 10 in order and tick the single statement they lead you to.
- Using initials or a shortened name. The form asks for your full first names, for example James, not Jim.
- Forgetting payments since 6 April from another job that has ended, or from Jobseeker's Allowance, Employment and Support Allowance or Incapacity Benefit. These change which statement applies.
- Choosing the wrong student loan plan, or more than one plan type. Tick only the plan you are due to repay (Plan 1, 2, 4 or 5), plus the Postgraduate Loan box if that also applies.
- Sending the form to HMRC. It belongs with your employer.
- Using the checklist after your first pay has already been processed. At that point, check and update your tax code online instead.
HMRC's own instructions
About this copy
- Form
- Starter checklist: Starter checklist for employees
- Issuer
- HM Revenue & Customs
- Edition shown
- HMRC 12/25
- Source
- The blank PDF on assets.publishing.service.gov.uk
- Last checked
- Against the issuer's site on
fenfill added the fill-in fields; the form itself is unchanged, and the PDF you download has nothing added to it. Check the edition and your answers before you send it.
Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0.
