Sometimes it may be necessary to prove your earnings. The most common reasons for this will be applying for a mortgage or loan, of if you have suffered loss of earnings. Obviously the exact requirements may vary depending on your situation, but hopefully the information below will help to provide a guide for you.
Employment income
If all of your income is from employment paid through Pay As You Earn (PAYE), this should be easy enough to prove. You will be able to get a P60 from your employer which will show how much you earned during the last tax year.
If you have only recently started employment you may not have received one yet. If you started the employment mid-year it is likely that your P60 won’t have full year’s earnings on it. In both these instances, you might need to use your contract, or a letter from your employer stating your salary.
It might be that you have recently received a pay rise, so a letter confirming this might be needed as the increased income won’t be reflected on your P60.
Self-employed income
If you are self-employed, then you won’t receive a P60. The accepted proof of income for self-employed individuals is what is known as an SA302.
This is a summary of all your earnings from any source for the financial year. If your tax return has been filed on HMRC’s website, then you should be able log onto the website and download it here for the last 4 financial years.
If your return has been filed through software by either yourself or your accountant, then you will need to get an SA302 through the software. You may therefore need to contact your accountant to request this if your SA302 is unavailable online.
Property rental
If you have income from property rental, this will most likely have been reported on a self-assessment tax return, and you can request an SA302 as mentioned above.
Company accounts
If you run your own limited company, then you may take income as a combination of salary and dividends.
Your salary can be proven in the same was as if you were in employment (see employment section above).
To prove your dividend income, you should be able to get your SA302 in the same way as if you were self-employed (see Self-Employed Income section above).
You may also be asked to share the accounts of the limited company. All filed accounts will be available on Companies House although it may be an abridged version. If that is the case and you require a full version, you may need to contact the accountant who prepared the accounts to obtain this.
Accountant’s letter or reference
Sometimes the person asking will have a set form to complete, or it is possible that you cannot get some of the above for one reason or another. In these instances, you may be able to get your accountant to provide a letter or reference for you outlining your income. Obviously, this might come at a cost, so you may want to look into the methods mentioned above as your first port of call.