From January 2020 employers will no longer be obliged to provide P60 documents to their staff. Instead, employees may have to access their P60 through Revenue’s online system, called myAccount.

The new arrangement marks another in a series of changes introduced by Revenue this year.

Changes introduced by the Revenue Commissioners last January means that every time employers pay their employees, they must report the pay and statutory deduction details to Revenue as part of the payroll process.

The new arrangement has been described as the most significant reform of the PAYE system since its introduction in 1960.

Online access

Fórsa official Geraldine O’Brien explained that the quickest and easiest way to manage tax affairs is through Revenue’s online system, myAccount which has many benefits for PAYE customers.

“Recent enhancements to myAccount allow the user to view their pay and tax details, download a secure pay and tax summary, claim an unemployment repayment and update civil status. Revenue is constantly updating their online services to ensure the public benefits from real time information.

“Pay and tax details reported by employers are also accessible through myAccount. Only pay and statutory deductions are available as employers don’t report non-statutory deductions to Revenue, such as union subscriptions or credit union payments. If you notice any discrepancies between the information shown in myAccount and those on your payslip, you should contact your employer,” she said.

Geraldine described another new feature which allows the creation of a secure document summarising your pay and tax:

“The summary is password protected and is useful for providing proof of income to any bodies, such as a financial institution, a solicitor or local authority. It can be used for the purposes of applying for a loan, mortgage, grants or similar applications,” she said.

One or all of the following can be included in the document:

• Pay and tax details to date for the current year to date
• Details of any payments received from employer(s) for the last 1 – 3 months
• End of year statements (P21s) for the last four tax years.

P60 changes

Geraldine stressed that the most important development to be aware of is that employers are no longer obliged to provide P60s. Instead, they can be accessed via the employment detail summary, through PAYE services on myAccount.

“This document will contain details of pay and statutory deductions for all employments/pensions for the year and will be available in early 2020.

“Revenue will make a preliminary end of year statement available to all PAYE customers from 15th January 2020. This statement will be based on income and statutory deductions reported by all employers during the year and will show whether the correct tax has been paid. A short online return can be completed to claim additional tax credits or declare additional income,” she said.

Revenue has encouraged everyone to register for myAccount to take advantage of these enhancements and make it easier to manage your tax affairs.