Form P85 tells HMRC that someone has left, or is about to leave, the UK, and can trigger an Income Tax refund for the tax year of departure by releasing the unused portion of that year's Personal Allowance, currently £12,570. Those who file Self Assessment for the departure year use form SA109 instead.
TL;DR · LAST REVIEWED 10 July 2026
- Form P85 is for people leaving the UK who do not need to file a Self Assessment tax return for the year they leave; if a Self Assessment return is required, leaving is reported through the SA109 supplementary pages instead, not a separate P85.
- A refund commonly arises because the UK Personal Allowance, £12,570 in 2026/27, is spread evenly across the tax year in a person's tax code; leaving partway through the year often means part of that allowance was never set against actual earnings.
- The form can be submitted online, which requires a Government Gateway account and is only available once someone has actually left the UK, or by post, which is required if the claim is made before departure.
KEY FACTS
- Form P85 is for people leaving the UK who do not need to file a Self Assessment tax return for the year they leave; if a Self Assessment return is required, leaving is reported through the SA109 supplementary pages instead, not a separate P85.
- A refund commonly arises because the UK Personal Allowance, £12,570 in 2026/27, is spread evenly across the tax year in a person's tax code; leaving partway through the year often means part of that allowance was never set against actual earnings.
- The form can be submitted online, which requires a Government Gateway account and is only available once someone has actually left the UK, or by post, which is required if the claim is made before departure.
- Applicants should include Parts 2 and 3 of form P45 from their last UK employer where available; without a P45, the P85 should explain why, for example retirement or continuing UK employment while working abroad.
- There is no statutory deadline to submit a P85, but HMRC can generally only process claims going back 4 tax years, and National Insurance contributions already paid cannot be refunded on leaving the UK.
What form P85 actually does
Form P85 serves two connected purposes: it formally tells HMRC that someone has left, or intends to leave, the UK, which updates their tax record and residence position, and it can trigger HMRC to calculate whether a refund of Income Tax is due for the tax year of departure. It should generally only be used by people who are not required to file a Self Assessment tax return for that departure year and do not intend to file one; anyone already in Self Assessment for the relevant year should report their departure and residence position through that return instead, using the SA109 supplementary pages, since submitting both creates a duplicate notification that HMRC then has to reconcile manually. One specific exception exists: someone who will be working full-time for a UK-based employer for at least one complete tax year while physically based abroad generally still needs to submit a P85, in order for HMRC to issue a No Tax, NT, tax code, even though they will also need to file a Self Assessment return and SA109 for that year.
Why a refund often arises, and how it is calculated
The UK Personal Allowance, the amount of income a person can earn before paying Income Tax, currently £12,570 for 2026/27, is generally spread evenly across the 12 months of the tax year within a person's tax code, so that roughly one-twelfth of the allowance is set against each month's pay. Someone who leaves the UK partway through the tax year, and has no further UK income for the remainder of that year, will typically have used only part of their full annual allowance against their actual UK earnings, since PAYE assumes continued UK earnings for the rest of the year unless told otherwise. This commonly results in a refund of the tax that was deducted on the assumption those later months of income would also arise. As an illustrative example, someone earning at a steady rate who leaves in early August, roughly a third of the way through the tax year, and receives no further income that tax year, would generally have used only around a third of their Personal Allowance against actual earnings, leaving a meaningful unused portion to be reflected in a recalculation.
How to submit the P85 and what happens next
The P85 can be completed and submitted online through a Government Gateway account, but this route is only available once the person has actually left the UK; anyone submitting a claim before departure, or who prefers not to use the online service, must instead print and post the completed form. Wherever possible, Parts 2 and 3 of form P45, issued by the last UK employer, should be included, since HMRC uses this to verify earnings and tax already deducted; if no P45 is available, for example because the person is retired or continuing to work for a UK employer while abroad, the P85 should explain why in the relevant section. Once submitted, HMRC reviews the claim and issues a P800 tax calculation setting out whether a refund is due and how it was calculated; this should be checked carefully against the applicant's own records, since errors in employer-submitted data can occasionally produce an incorrect result.
Refunds have historically been paid only by cheque to a UK address, either the applicant's own or a nominated recipient's, which created genuine friction for people who had already left the country; HMRC has since introduced an option to receive P85 refunds by direct transfer to a UK bank account instead, which is generally faster than waiting for an overseas cheque to clear. It is worth keeping a UK bank account open for at least the period immediately after departure specifically to receive any refund cleanly, since HMRC does not cover currency conversion or international transfer costs itself.
What the P85 does not cover
The P85 process addresses Income Tax on employment earnings only; it does not extend to National Insurance contributions, which are not refundable simply because someone has left the UK, regardless of how much was paid or how little of the tax year remains, covered in more detail in the dedicated guide to National Insurance while working abroad linked below. It also does not, by itself, determine full UK tax residence status for the departure year in the more complex cases governed by the Statutory Residence Test; while a P85 claim is generally consistent with becoming non-UK resident from the point of departure, someone with more complex ties to the UK, ongoing UK income beyond simple employment, or a return to the UK within the same or a following tax year should consider the residence position separately under the SRT, covered in the dedicated guide linked below, rather than assuming the P85 outcome settles that question conclusively.
Timing and practical steps
There is no statutory deadline for submitting a P85, but HMRC generally only processes claims for the four most recent tax years, so someone who left the UK several years ago without ever submitting a claim should act before that window closes on any specific year's refund. Beyond the P85 itself, anyone leaving the UK should separately notify their local council to stop Council Tax liability, and should consider the National Insurance and Statutory Residence Test implications of their departure alongside the P85 process, since the three interact but are not resolved by a single form. Given how much a specific case can turn on individual circumstances, such as ongoing UK income, the exact departure date, or plans to return, anyone with a non-straightforward situation should take professional tax advice rather than relying on the P85 process alone to fully settle their UK tax position.
RELATED GUIDES
DISCLAIMER
This article is editorial information, not immigration, legal, tax or investment advice. Rules, thresholds and fees change and should be verified against the official sources cited below before acting. Kael Tripton Ltd receives no fee, commission or referral payment in connection with any programme described on this page.
Frequently asked questions
Do I need to fill in a P85 if I already file a Self Assessment tax return?
Generally no. If you are required to file a Self Assessment return for the tax year you leave, you report your departure and residence position through that return using the SA109 supplementary pages instead of a separate P85, to avoid a duplicate notification.
Why would I be owed a tax refund for leaving the UK?
Because the annual Personal Allowance is spread evenly across the tax year in your tax code. If you leave partway through the year with no further UK income, you have typically used only part of that allowance against actual earnings, which HMRC then refunds.
Can I submit a P85 before I have actually left the UK?
Yes, but only by post. The online submission route requires a Government Gateway account and is only available once you have actually left the country.
Can I get my National Insurance contributions refunded when I leave the UK?
No. National Insurance contributions already paid are not refundable on leaving the UK, regardless of the amount paid or how much of the tax year remains after departure.
How long do I have to claim a tax refund after leaving the UK?
There is no fixed statutory deadline to submit a P85, but HMRC can generally only process claims going back four tax years, so unclaimed refunds from several years ago may no longer be recoverable.
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