Students: What happens if I change my job?

What you will get
Your employer must give you a form P45(PDF 65K) when you leave your job. But, you may have to wait until your P45 is posted to you, as your employer must wait until he has paid your final wages.

The P45 has four parts. Your employer will:

• send part 1 to us
  
• give you parts 1A, 2 and 3 to keep until you start your next job.

Why do I get it
Your P45 provides a link between your jobs for the Pay As You Earn (PAYE) system. It doesn't contain any personal information but tells your employer enough tax information so you can be taxed at the same rate as in your previous job. For example, your P45 shows your code number, which is needed to work out the tax due.

Your P45 also tells your new employer whether or not you are making student loan repayments. Without the P45 your new employer will be unable to carry on taking student loan repayments until the Student Loans Company (SLC) issue a new start notice.

Missing P45s
If you or your employer lose your P45 it may mean that you will not pay the right amount of tax and student loan repayments.

Because your new employer will not have your tax code, he will give you a form P46 (PDF 59K) to fill in. He will then send this to us. You may find that you pay too much tax until we deal with the P46 and let your employer know your tax code.

There might also be a gap in your student loan repayments. At the end of the year you could find that if you have not made sufficient repayments you could be charged interest by the SLC. To avoid this you should phone the SLC Helpline: 0800 50 40 10. You will need your student support or student loan account number.