The income tax typically overpaid by someone on £80,000 who leaves the UK three months into the tax year — created purely by the way PAYE spreads allowances across twelve months. Form P85 is how you ask for it back.
Almost everything written about leaving the UK is about the Statutory Residence Test. Form P85 is the far duller, far more immediately profitable part: the piece of paper that closes your PAYE record and gets your overpaid tax back. Most people who leave part-way through a tax year are owed money and never ask for it.
All figures below are 2026/27 and computed with the same engine as our take-home pay calculator (thresholds frozen to 2028).
What P85 Actually Does
P85 tells HMRC you have left, or are leaving, the UK. You send one if you are leaving the UK to live abroad permanently, or going to work abroad full time for at least one full tax year (GOV.UK). Two things follow from it: your PAYE record is settled for the year, and HMRC can issue any refund due.
What it does not do is decide your residence status. That is the Statutory Residence Test's job, and the two are routinely confused. Filing a P85 is a notification, not a claim to be non-resident.
Do You Send a P85 or an SA109?
- You do not normally file Self Assessment → send P85, with parts 2 and 3 of your P45.
- You do file Self Assessment → tell HMRC through the SA109 residence pages instead. Note that HMRC's own online service does not support SA109 — it is paper by 31 October, or commercial software by 31 January.
- You are working abroad full time for a UK employer → you need both: the P85 and the Self Assessment return with SA109 (GOV.UK).
The trap for higher earners: anyone earning over £100,000, taking dividends, or letting a property is usually inside Self Assessment already — so the P85 they were told to file is often the wrong form, and the SA109 they actually need cannot be filed through HMRC's own website. That combination is why so many departures end up on paper, against the earlier 31 October deadline.
Why Leaving Mid-Year Creates a Refund
PAYE is cumulative. Each month it gives you one twelfth of your personal allowance and one twelfth of each tax band, on the assumption you will work the full year. Stop after three months and you have been taxed as though you earned an annual salary you never actually received.
The table assumes a departure three months into the tax year, with no further UK-taxable employment income for the rest of it:
| Annual salary | Earned in 3 months | Income tax paid via PAYE | Income tax actually due | Refund |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| £45,000 | £11,250 | £1,622 | £0 | £1,622 |
| £80,000 | £20,000 | £4,858 | £1,486 | £3,372 |
| £120,000 | £30,000 | £9,858 | £3,486 | £6,372 |
The pattern is worth understanding rather than memorising: the higher your salary, the larger the refund, because PAYE has been charging you at 40% (or 45%) on income that — once the year is truncated — never reached those bands at all. On £80,000 the gap is £3,372; the arithmetic is the same one behind the £100k tax trap, running in your favour for once.
National Insurance is not refunded. NI is worked out separately for each pay period rather than cumulatively over the year, so a mid-year departure creates no NI overpayment. Only income tax comes back — do not budget for more.
Split-Year Treatment: the Other Half of the Refund
Where you qualify, split-year treatment divides the tax year into a UK part and an overseas part, so you are taxed as a UK resident only up to your departure instead of across the whole year. It is claimed through the SA109 residence pages, has several distinct qualifying cases, and is not automatic.
For anyone earning abroad after they leave, this is usually worth considerably more than the PAYE refund itself — without it, foreign earnings for the rest of the year can fall into the UK net. Our moving abroad guide covers the cases in detail.
What to Have Ready
- Parts 2 and 3 of your P45 from your final UK employer (what a P45 is). Chase it before you file — HMRC frequently cannot finalise a refund without it.
- Your departure date, and your best estimate of UK-source income for the rest of the tax year.
- A bank account HMRC can pay into. Closing your UK current account on the way out is a common and self-inflicted delay.
- Your National Insurance number and new overseas address.
What P85 Does Not Cover
The refund is the easy part. P85 says nothing about the income the UK carries on taxing after you go:
- UK rental income stays UK-taxable, and your agent will start withholding 20% under the Non-Resident Landlord Scheme — see non-resident landlord tax.
- UK pensions are usually still UK-taxable unless a treaty says otherwise — see retiring abroad.
- UK property gains require a 60-day report to HMRC even as a non-resident, even at a loss.
- Work you physically perform in the UK remains taxable here however you are paid for it.
The full map is in Do I Still Pay UK Tax If I Live Abroad?
Frequently Asked Questions
What is form P85 for?
It tells HMRC you have left or are leaving the UK, so your tax record can be closed off for the year and any overpaid PAYE refunded. You send it if you are leaving to live abroad permanently, or going to work abroad full time for at least one full tax year (GOV.UK).
Do I need to submit a P85 if I do a Self Assessment return?
Usually no — Self Assessment filers tell HMRC through the SA109 residence pages instead, which must be filed on paper or via commercial software rather than HMRC's online service. The exception: if you are working full time abroad for a UK employer you need both the P85 and the return with SA109 (GOV.UK).
Will I get a tax refund when I leave the UK?
Very often, if you leave part-way through a tax year. PAYE spreads your personal allowance and tax bands evenly across twelve months, so leaving in month three means you have paid tax at the rate your annual salary implied while only earning a quarter of it. See the worked table above.
Is National Insurance refunded too?
No. NI is calculated separately for each pay period rather than cumulatively across the year, so leaving mid-year does not create an NI overpayment the way it creates an income tax one. Only the income tax comes back.
What do I need to send with a P85?
Parts 2 and 3 of your P45 from your final UK employer, if you have one (GOV.UK). If you have not been given a P45 yet, chase it before you file — without it HMRC often cannot finalise the refund.
Does filing a P85 make me non-resident?
No, and this is the most common misunderstanding. Residence is decided by the Statutory Residence Test, not by a form. P85 is how you notify HMRC; the SRT is what determines the answer. You can file a P85 and still be UK-resident for the year.
What is split-year treatment?
Where you qualify, the tax year is split into a UK part and an overseas part, so you are taxed as a resident only for the portion before you left rather than the whole year. It has to be claimed through the SA109 residence pages and has its own qualifying cases — it is not automatic.
Related Guides
Keep reading with these related guides:
- Tax When Moving Abroad — the full leaver's checklist and split-year treatment
- How to Become Non-Resident — the Statutory Residence Test that actually decides your status
- Non-Resident Landlord Tax — if you are keeping and letting the UK property
- Do I Still Pay UK Tax If I Live Abroad? — what the UK keeps taxing after you go
- UK Tax for Non-Residents — NT codes, allowances and UK-source income
- What Is a P45? — the form you need parts 2 and 3 of
- Should I Leave the UK? — compare take-home pay across destinations
- All Tax Guides
Where You Become Resident: Compare the Tax
What the UK keeps taxing is only half the picture — your new country decides the rest. These comparisons put local take-home pay, expat regimes and social security next to the UK:
- UK vs UAE (Dubai) — no personal income tax on salary, dividends or gains
- UK vs Portugal — the IFICI successor to NHR
- UK vs Spain — the Beckham law and regional IRPF
- UK vs Cyprus — non-dom 0% on dividends and interest
- UK vs Singapore — low resident rates, no CPF for foreigners
- All country tax comparisons — every destination we cover
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