A PAYE reference number is the short code HM Revenue and Customs assigns to every employer that runs a payroll in the United Kingdom, and it ties all of that employer’s payroll filings, tax payments, and HMRC correspondence to a single account. It looks something like 123/AB456. If you’re an employee looking for your employer’s number, the quickest places to check are your P60, your P45, or your HMRC Personal Tax Account. If you’re the employer, it’s on the welcome letter HMRC sent you when you registered, and on every piece of payroll correspondence since.
What the Number Looks Like
A PAYE reference has two parts separated by a forward slash. The first part is a three-digit number identifying the HMRC tax office that manages the employer’s scheme. The second part is the employer’s own unique reference, a mix of letters and numbers that can run from 1 to 10 characters long.1HMRC Design Resources. Employer PAYE Reference – HMRC Patterns for Services A small business might have a reference like 123/AB456. A larger organisation could have something longer like 456/XY1234567.
The tax office number at the front routes filings and payments to the right HMRC office. The employer reference after the slash distinguishes that business from every other employer managed by the same office. Together, the two parts create a code that is unique across the whole PAYE system.
Where to Find Your PAYE Reference as an Employee
Your employer’s PAYE reference appears on several documents you already receive. The most reliable is your P60, the end-of-year certificate summarising your total pay and deductions for the tax year.1HMRC Design Resources. Employer PAYE Reference – HMRC Patterns for Services If you’ve recently left a job, your P45 carries it too. Some employers also print it on payslips, though they aren’t required to.
If none of those are to hand, sign in to your HMRC Personal Tax Account on GOV.UK with your Government Gateway credentials, open the Pay As You Earn (PAYE) tile, and look under your PAYE Income Tax history. The employer PAYE reference for each job you’ve held is listed there. This route is useful if you’ve started a new role and haven’t yet received a P60, or if you can’t track down a P45 from a previous employer.
Where to Find Your PAYE Reference as an Employer
The reference first appears in the welcome letter HMRC posts after you register as an employer. Every piece of official HMRC correspondence about your payroll scheme afterwards shows it as well, including coding notices and payment reminders.1HMRC Design Resources. Employer PAYE Reference – HMRC Patterns for Services If the paperwork has gone astray, log into your Government Gateway account and the number will be there.
If you can’t get into the online account either, HMRC’s employer helpline is 0300 200 3200, open Monday to Friday, 8am to 6pm. The adviser will only give general guidance if you don’t already have your PAYE reference or Accounts Office reference to hand for identity checks.2GOV.UK. Employers: General Enquiries HMRC also runs a digital assistant on GOV.UK that can pass you to a human adviser.
How to Get a PAYE Reference If You Don’t Have One
You need to register as an employer with HMRC before your first payday. Most limited companies with one to nine directors can register online through GOV.UK.3GOV.UK. Register as an Employer You cannot register more than two months before you start paying people, so there’s a built-in window. Once HMRC processes the registration, the PAYE reference arrives by post. Build in time for that letter, because waiting for it while a first payday approaches is avoidable stress.
Registration applies even if you’re the sole director of a limited company paying yourself a salary. It also applies if you take on subcontractors for construction work under the Construction Industry Scheme. CIS contractors go through the same employer registration and receive a PAYE reference as part of setup.4GOV.UK. What You Must Do as a Construction Industry Scheme (CIS) Contractor
What the PAYE Reference Is Used For
Payroll Filings
Your PAYE reference is the first thing you enter when setting up payroll software. The software tags every electronic filing with it, linking the data to your HMRC account. That matters most for Real Time Information submissions, which are required every time you pay staff. The two key RTI reports are the Full Payment Submission (FPS), covering what you paid each employee and what you deducted, and the Employer Payment Summary (EPS), which reports adjustments such as statutory pay recoveries.5GOV.UK. PAYE Manual – PAYE55001 Both require your PAYE reference.
Getting the reference wrong isn’t a minor paperwork slip. File under an invalid reference and the Government Gateway rejects the submission outright, with an error returned to your software. File under a reference that belongs to a different employer but happens to be valid, and HMRC may not flag the problem until penalties are issued on your actual account for what looks like a missed filing.6GOV.UK. PAYE Manual – PAYE45012
Student Loan Deductions
Employers also use the PAYE system to collect student loan repayments from wages, alongside Income Tax and National Insurance. HMRC tells the employer when someone on their payroll has a student loan and which repayment plan applies, and the employer deducts the right amount each pay period. If a borrower changes jobs and repayments don’t restart at the new employer when they should, the Student Loans Company asks the borrower for details of the new employer, including the PAYE reference.7GOV.UK. Student Loans: A Guide to Terms and Conditions 2026 to 2027
Tax Relief Claims
Employees who spend their own money on things required for work, such as professional subscriptions or uniforms, can claim tax relief using Form P87. The form asks for the employer’s PAYE reference so HMRC can match the claim to the right employment record.8GOV.UK. P87 Tax Relief for Expenses of Employment The form itself points you to your P45, P60, or Personal Tax Account to find the number.
Other Tax Numbers People Mix Up With It
The UK tax system uses several identifiers, and confusing them causes real problems. Three come up most often.
National Insurance Number
Your National Insurance number is personal to you as an individual and tracks your contributions and state benefit entitlement. It follows a different format: two letters, six numbers, and a final letter that is always A, B, C, or D, for example QQ 12 34 56 A.9GOV.UK. NIM39110 – National Insurance Numbers (NINOs): Format and Security The PAYE reference belongs to your employer’s payroll scheme. The NINO belongs to you and follows you across every job you hold.
Unique Taxpayer Reference
The Unique Taxpayer Reference, or UTR, is a 10- or 13-digit number assigned to individuals and businesses registered for Self Assessment or Corporation Tax.10HMRC Design Resources. Unique Taxpayer Reference – HMRC Patterns for Services It’s for filing annual tax returns, not ongoing payroll. You’ll typically receive your UTR about 15 days after registering for Self Assessment.11GOV.UK. Find Your UTR Number CIS subcontractors use their UTR rather than a PAYE reference, because the subcontractor relationship falls under the Construction Industry Scheme rather than PAYE.4GOV.UK. What You Must Do as a Construction Industry Scheme (CIS) Contractor
Accounts Office Reference
This 13-character code, formatted like 123PX00123456, is used only for making payments to HMRC.12HMRC Design Resources. Accounts Office Reference – HMRC Patterns for Services It arrives in the same welcome letter as your PAYE reference when you register as an employer. The common mistake is using the PAYE reference as a payment reference or the other way round. The PAYE reference identifies who you are; the Accounts Office Reference tells HMRC’s bank where to credit the money.