Get your Income Tax right if you're leaving the UK (P85)
Tell HMRC if you've left or intend to leave the UK and find out how to get relief or a repayment on UK Income Tax (P85).
You can claim online or use form P85 to tell HMRC that you’ve left or are leaving the UK and want to claim back tax from your UK employment.
You can claim if you:
- lived and worked in the UK
- left the UK and may not be coming back
- work abroad full time for at least one full tax year
You do not need to fill in this form if you are sending a Self Assessment tax return for the tax year that you leave the UK.
Before you start
Check your P45 for ‘details of employee leaving work’ — you’ll need this when you claim.
Tell us if you:
- have a home in the UK
- work full time outside of the UK
- have salary still paid in the UK
- will spend time in the UK over the next 3 years
Ways to claim
Claim online
You’ll need to sign in with your Government Gateway user ID and password (if you do not have a user ID, you can create one when you first try to sign in).
If you have not left the UK yet, you must print and post your claim.
You’ll get a reference number that you can use to track the progress of your claim.
Claim by post
Claim by post if you:
- have not left the UK yet
- do not wish to use the online service
To claim by post, you need to:
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Get all of your information together before you start. You will fill this form in online and you cannot save your progress.
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Fill in form P85 for postal claims.
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Print and post it to HMRC.
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Include your P45 if you have it — if not, tell us why. For example, you may be retired, or a UK crown servant employed abroad.
Where to send the form
Pay As You Earn
HM Revenue and Customs
BX9 1AS
What happens next
If you’re due a repayment, we’ll:
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Pay you or someone else on your behalf.
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Post a payable order to your address or to your nominee’s address — to be paid into a bank account held in your or your nominee’s name.
You can check when you can expect a reply from HMRC.
HMRC will not pay any fees to convert your repayment into another currency, or to transfer it abroad. You may want to keep your UK bank account open until you receive the repayment to avoid any fees.
Updates to this page
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Information about how to print and post your claim using the P85 form has been updated.
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If you have not left the UK yet, you must print and post your claim.
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The guidance has been amended to include information about keeping your UK bank account open until you receive the repayment.
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The planned downtime for the the print and post online service that started at 2pm on Friday 6 October 2023 will now end at 3pm on Friday 13 October 2023. We apologise for any inconvenience this may cause.
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Due to planned downtime, the print and post online service will be unavailable from 2pm on Friday 6 October 2023 to 10am on Tuesday 10 October 2023.
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Added translation