Starting a new job? Make sure your details are accurate

Providing your employer and HMRC with accurate personal information – get the right pay faster

When we start a new job we want to be made sure we are paid the right money.

Providing your employer and HMRC with the right information helps to make sure that you are paying the correct tax and National Insurance contributions and getting all the pay due to you. This helps to protect your entitlement to some state benefits and your State Pension too.

All your details should exactly match your official documents (passport, birth certificate, etc.), including your:

• name – full and official forename(s) and surname
• date of birth, and
• National Insurance number

If you have a form P45 from your last employer, pass it onto your new employer when you join. If you have not received one yet, then don’t wait, complete the starter checklist.

By completing the starter checklist, it will help to make sure you’ve provided all the details needed by your new employer and HMRC.

Name

Always give your full forename(s), not just your initial(s). Also make sure that your forename(s) and surname are in the correct order (for example, John Smith and not J Smith or Smith J).

Include your middle name in full if you have one (for example, John Michael Smith and not John M Smith).

If you change your name, let your employer know, and also tell HMRC about changes to your details or in the HMRC app.

Date of birth

• Always provide your correct date of birth, as giving a wrong date of birth may affect your entitlement to state benefits.
• Check that your date of birth is correct format. Enter the day, month and full year of birth (for example, 05/05/1985).

National Insurance number

Your National Insurance number ensures you’re paying the right tax, but also links to your state pension and benefits you might be entitled to, so it’s important to get it right.

• Your National Insurance number will begin with two letters, followed by six numbers and will end with a letter which will be either A, B, C or D.
• If you do not know your National Insurance number, the quickest and easiest way to find it is in the HMRC app (log in using your government gateway ID or create an account). Once you’re logged in, go to ‘your details’ and the National Insurance confirmation letter is available under ‘proof of your National Insurance number’.
• Your National Insurance Number can also be found through your online account or on a document you may already have, for example a payslip or P60.
• If you have never been issued a National Insurance number, you can apply for a National Insurance number online.

As long as you have a right to work, you can start work even if you don’t have a National Insurance number.

Checking information

Your employer may want to check the information you give them with an official source such as:

• HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) documents
• the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) documents
• your passport, or
• your birth certificate.

Helping them check your details are correct means you’ll get the right pay quicker.

Your rights and obligations

The HMRC’s Charter explains what you can expect from them and what they expect from you. You can find more information on GOV.UK.

HMRC provides this information on a help card:

PAYadvice.UK 23/7/2023