The P85 Form Explained: Telling HMRC You Are Leaving the UK

In 30 Seconds

The P85 is the form that tells HMRC you have left the UK, if you are a PAYE employee who does not file tax returns. It updates your record, lets HMRC reconcile the tax you paid in your leaving year, and triggers any refund you are owed for the unused part of your personal allowance. If you file Self Assessment, you do not use a P85 at all: you tell HMRC through the residence section of your return instead. That one distinction is where most of the confusion lives, so let us kill it first.

P85 or Self Assessment: which one is you

  • You file Self Assessment (company director, landlord, dividends, higher earnings): you tell HMRC you have left through your tax return, completing the residence section, form SA109, and sending it by post. HMRC's guidance is explicit that you cannot tell them you are leaving through their online Self Assessment services. Filing a P85 as well just duplicates the story.
  • You are PAYE only and do not file returns: the P85 is your form. One form, once, after you leave.

For most of our clients, business owners with UK companies, the answer is Self Assessment with SA109, and the P85 never features. For a spouse employed under PAYE, the P85 often is the right form. Households frequently need one of each.

What the P85 actually does

  • Tells HMRC you have left the UK to live or work abroad and updates your contact details to your overseas address.
  • Has HMRC reconcile your leaving year: if you left part way through the tax year, you have likely used only part of your personal allowance, and PAYE will often have over deducted. The P85 is how that overpayment comes back.
  • Feeds how HMRC treats any continuing UK payroll: if you keep working full time abroad for a UK employer for at least a full tax year, the P85 is how HMRC can issue an NT, no tax, code so UK tax stops being deducted at source.

What it does not do

The P85 does not make you non resident. Your residence status is decided by the Statutory Residence Test, on facts: days in the UK, ties, work patterns. Split year treatment may make you non resident from shortly after departure, or not, depending on your circumstances. The P85 is paperwork that reports the move. The SRT is the law that judges it. If your affairs are anything beyond a single PAYE job, read our UK exit tax guide and take advice, because the expensive mistakes happen at this layer, not on the form. None of this is tax advice.

How to file it

  • When: after you leave. The online route is available once you have actually gone; there is no statutory deadline, but sooner keeps your leaving year clean and your refund moving.
  • What to attach: parts 2 and 3 of your P45 from your employer. No P45 because you are continuing with a UK employer from abroad? File the P85 anyway; that is the NT code scenario above.
  • How: online through your Government Gateway account, or by printing and posting the form. Post is the route if you need the NT code before or around departure.

The refund, and the UK bank account trap

HMRC works out whether you are owed a refund for the year you leave. Two mechanics matter: HMRC will only send cheques within the UK, either to your UK address or to a nominee, and most cheques can only be paid into a UK bank account in your name or the nominee's. Translation: keep a UK bank account open when you emigrate, or appoint a nominee you trust. Closing everything British on your way to the airport is how leavers strand their own refunds.

After the P85

Once you are non resident, you do not pay UK tax on income and gains arising outside the UK. UK sourced income, most commonly rent from a UK property, can remain taxable in the UK, and that usually pulls you into Self Assessment as a non resident going forward. And if you return to the UK within five years, temporary non residence rules can bring certain income and gains back into charge. Leaving properly is a system, not a form; the P85 is just one bolt in it. The full sequence is in our leaving the UK checklist.

Moving to Dubai specifically

Nothing about the P85 changes for Dubai: the UK side of your exit is identical whatever the destination. What changes is the other end: no personal income tax on salaries, and a residence process measured in days. Our founder ran it as a client and went from landing to banked resident in under 72 hours. The FCDO currently advises against all but essential travel to the UAE due to regional tensions, so check the live advice when planning travel. If Dubai is the plan, book a free call and we will sequence both ends properly.

FAQs

What is a P85 form?

It is HMRC's form for telling them you have left the UK to live or work abroad, used by PAYE taxpayers who do not file Self Assessment. It updates your record and triggers reconciliation of your leaving year, including any refund.

Do I need a P85 if I file Self Assessment?

No. You tell HMRC through the residence section of your return, form SA109, sent by post. You do not need both.

When should I submit the P85?

After you leave the UK. There is no hard deadline, but filing promptly keeps your leaving year clean and any refund moving.

What do I need to file a P85?

Parts 2 and 3 of your P45 from your employer. If you have no P45 because you are continuing to work for a UK employer from abroad, file the P85 anyway so HMRC can consider an NT code.

Will HMRC pay my refund to a foreign bank account?

Do not count on it. HMRC sends cheques only within the UK, to you or a nominee, and most can only be paid into a UK account. Keep a UK bank account open when you leave.

Does filing a P85 make me non resident?

No. Residence is decided by the Statutory Residence Test on your actual days, ties and work pattern. The P85 reports your move; it does not rule on it.

Related guides

References

This guide is general information, not tax advice. Your residence position and leaving year depend on your specific facts. Take regulated advice before acting.