This is a new section on our website which we want to develop over the next year or so. We are carrying out research into what forms students find difficult to complete.

If you would like to suggest a form where the Revenue explanation is insufficient or unhelpful then please let us know this by contacting us.

You will need to have at least version 8 of Adobe Reader to use the forms. If you do not have this already you can download a copy of the latest version by clicking on the link.

Form P46

A couple of years ago HMRC introduced a radically revised form P46 for new employees without form P45 employment details from their previous job.

To make things easier - you can have a look at a form P46 and see our comments on most of the boxes you need to fill in. Use the link below and then either run your mouse across a yellow comment box for a quick read or click the box to leave it open on the screen. The form is accessed here. We have also included the notes below in case you might want to print them.

The revised double sided P46 is designed to be easier for new employees to fill in correctly so that their new employers can operate the most appropriate tax code as soon as possible.

The new employee who doesn't have a form P45 from his or her previous job fills in the front and the new employer fills in the back.

From 6 April 2009 if your employer has more than 50 employees or from 6 April 2011 if he has less than 50 - the way the P46 information is filed with HMRC is changing. You will no longer be required to complete the pre-printed form P46 but you will have to supply your employer with the same information that used to be on the form. They must get this information directly from you (not e.g. third hand via your manager) and they must keep a record of the facts and how they got them.

Filling in the form

The new employee is asked to provide the following information in capital letters and the form is best completed in black ink for clarity:-

• National Insurance number

  A very important piece of information for making sure your tax records are correctly identified and so that any national insurance contributions you make can be correctly allocated to your records




• Date of birth

  This is needed to make sure that HMRC can take steps to give you the right tax-free allowances in your tax code




• Your name

  including your title, your surname or family name and your first or given name(s). To fill in your surname or family name and first or given name(s) you should put the first letter in the first box on the far left and use every box continuously and then leave a one box space before another name




• Are you male or female?

  Tick the relevant box




• Your address

  This includes your postcode, house or flat number and the rest of your address

Your present circumstances

Here you have to choose between 3 statements. You must tick one of them or you have not filled in the form correctly and your new employer may not operate the tax code most appropriate for you.

• For example, you start your new job on Monday 8 May 2009 without giving your new employer a form P45 so he gives you form P46 to fill in. You were out of work between 6 April 2009 and 7 May 2009 but you did not receive any taxable Jobseeker's Allowance or taxable Incapacity Benefit. You are too young to be receiving an occupational pension or your state pension so you can tick statement A
  
  

  This is my first job since last 6 April and I have not been receiving taxable Jobseeker's Allowance or taxable Incapacity Benefit or a state or occupational pension.

• If you had received any money for the period 6 April 2009 to 7 May 2009 because:
  • you had been working in that time, or
  • you had received taxable Jobseeker's Allowance or taxable Incapacity Benefit, or
  • you had received pension payments from a previous employer or your state pension
  You would not be able to choose statement A



• Suppose you left your previous job on 5 May 2009 without form P45 and started your new job on 8 May 2009, your new job would not be the first job you had had since 6 April 2009 so you would not be able to tick statement A. But as this new job is now your only job and you have not received any pension payments either from a former employer or the state you can tick statement B:
  
  

  This is now my only job, but since last 6 April I have had another job, or have received taxable Jobseeker's Allowance or Incapacity Benefit. I do not receive a state or occupational pension.

• If you have two or more jobs or receive any kind of pension you cannot tick either of statements A or B. You must tick statement C.

Student Loans – Box D – tick this only if you have to!

• Firstly you should be aware that it is not mandatory to tick this box but some ex-students are ticking box D on form P46 by mistake when they start a new job without a form P45.




• Tick box D is only for ex-students who:

  • have an income contingent student loan which has not been fully repaid. An income contingent loan is one where the first payment received was on or after 1 September 1998 AND
  • finished or left their course of Higher Education before the previous 6 April


• Students who have the older mortgage repayment style loans should not tick box D, as they have to make repayments direct to the Student Loans Company and not through their employer.



• Ticking box D gives your employer the go ahead to make repayment deductions for your student loan, if you earn enough (currently more than £288 a week or more than £1,250 a month). So it literally pays to take a couple of extra seconds to think about box D and read the small print before you tick.




• If you find the small print on the P46 which says:

  If you left a course of Higher Education before last 6 April and received your first Student Loan instalment on or after 1 September 1998 and you have not fully repaid your Student Loan, tick box D. (If you are required to repay your Student Loan through your bank or building society do not tick box D)

  a bore or you fall asleep before the end, no one is blaming you but tick at your peril and pay the price.



• We can make it easier for you – ask yourself:

  • Am I still doing the course for which I got the income contingent loan?

    If the answer is YES don't tick box D

  
  
  • But if the answer is NO, ask yourself:

    • Did I finish or leave my course after last 5 April?

    If the answer is YES don't tick box D

  
  

  • However if the answer is NO, note down the following three dates:

  
  
  1. Today's date
  2. The date when I left or finished my course?
  3. The last 6 April date
  
  

  The date when you left or finished your course should be the earliest and in addition should be a date before the last 6 April.
  
  

  • If the date check works, it looks like you should be ticking box D, but before you do, make one further check and ask yourself:

    • Have I definitely got the right sort of loan and not one I have to repay direct to the Student Loans Company through my bank or building society?
    • I do still owe some money on my loan, don't I?
    
    

    If the check answers are YES, tick box D and be prepared to make repayments, if you earn enough.

  
  
• It's not all bad news if you do tick box D by mistake, particularly if you realise what you've done in time for you to get it put right before the end of the tax year on 5 April.



• Your employer can go to the HMRC Student Loan Unit at Centre 1 (East Kilbride Student Loan Unit) on 01355 273000 where they can be authorised to make a repayment immediately through the payroll or you can contact your own tax office.



• You can find the address and phone number for your tax office by entering the three figure number where requested using the Contact page on the HMRC website or use the alphabetical index there if you have the office name.



• If you don't realise you've made a mistake until after the tax year has ended or if the light never dawns on you, you will get your money back – with interest – eventually. You'll have to wait until all your employer's Annual Return information has been processed and this might take ages.



• The moral of this story is read the small print!

• You must sign and date the form. If you don't sign and date it, you have not filled it in correctly and your new employer may not operate the tax code most appropriate for you.

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