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PARTLY

As of 13 August 2026, AI can only partly prepare a P45 for a departing UK employee.

This still needs a person who signs their name to it.

Can you do it?

15 minutesto a draft.

30 minutesto something you’d act on.

Cost, all in£0

Skill neededchat-fluent

Who has to check ita professional

What the alternative costsThe supplied tool data does not provide a price for a payroll service or payroll software.

If this goes wrong, the departing employee can receive incorrect pay and tax information and the employer may need to correct its payroll records and reporting.

What to actually do

  1. Hand it to a person

    The route this page recommends

    Someone with a licence or accountable authority has to sign this before it counts.

  2. Use a tool built for this

    Second choice

  3. Do it yourself

    The distant third

    A chat interface, chat-fluent skill, and roughly 30 minutes until you can act on the result.

    How to actually do it

    1. Open your payroll software and the relevant GOV.UK guidance on giving an employee a P45, then note the required fields and the payroll reporting steps.
    2. Gather the employee's payroll record, leaving date, final pay details, tax figures, National Insurance information and employer details from the payroll system.
    3. Remove unnecessary personal data, then paste the remaining records and the GOV.UK or software instructions into the prompt.
    4. Ask the chatbot to produce the field checklist and draft table, and compare every draft figure with the payroll record it came from.
    5. Resolve any missing or inconsistent fields in the payroll software or with your payroll professional before proceeding.
    6. Enter or generate the confirmed details in the payroll software, complete the required payroll reporting, and give the official P45 to the employee using the software's approved process.

    Prompt

    Help me prepare a draft P45 for a departing UK employee using the payroll records I provide. Use only the information supplied and current GOV.UK guidance that I also provide or link to. Do not invent, estimate or infer any figure. Do not present the draft as an official HMRC submission or say that it has been filed. First list the fields required for the P45 and identify any missing or inconsistent information. Then produce a clearly labelled draft table containing the employee details, leaving date, pay and tax figures, and any other required fields. Show each figure exactly as supplied and flag anything that must be checked in the payroll software. Do not give tax advice. Keep personal data to the minimum needed. Employer context: [employer name or description]. Payroll records: [paste relevant records]. GOV.UK guidance or payroll software instructions: [paste or link the source].

    Open it prefilled in ChatGPT or Claude, or copy it into Gemini, which takes no prefill link.

What it gets wrong

  • AI cannot access your payroll system or confirm which pay and tax figures are the final approved figures.
  • AI cannot issue an official P45 or complete the employer's payroll reporting on its own.
  • AI cannot take responsibility for an incorrect leaving date, tax figure or employee record.
  • AI cannot reliably resolve unusual cases such as corrections, payments after leaving or disputed payroll records without professional judgement.
  • A P45 draft still needs checking against the payroll software and current GOV.UK guidance before it is issued.

What caps this at PARTLY: legal accountability, verification cost and stakes of error.

How we scored this

Five axes, each scored nought to two by hand: ten means AI carries the task cleanly, and the thresholds that turn a total into YES, PARTLY or NO are published in the methodology. Each axis name links to its definition.

AxisScore (0–2)
Output1
Inputs2
Verification1
Liability1
Effort delta1
Total6 / 10

The methodology and its thresholds are published in full.

FAQ

Can ChatGPT create a P45?
It can create a draft layout from payroll information, but it cannot issue the official P45 or complete the employer's payroll reporting. Use your payroll software for the official process and check the draft against its records.
Can I make a P45 without payroll software?
You can use AI to organise the information and identify missing fields, but a document that looks like a P45 is not the same as completing the required payroll process. Check the current GOV.UK instructions or ask a payroll professional before issuing anything.
What information do I need to prepare a P45?
You need the employee and employer details, the leaving date and the relevant pay and tax information from the payroll record. The exact fields and reporting steps should be checked against current GOV.UK guidance and your payroll software.
Is it safe to use AI for a P45?
It is suitable for organising supplied records and producing a clearly labelled draft, provided you minimise personal data and check every field. This is not professional advice; a serious or unusual payroll case needs an accountant or payroll professional, and the employer remains liable for errors.

Nearby answers

All Payroll rulings

Assessed by gpt-5.6-luna (gpt-5.6-luna) on 2026-08-13, second-checked by an independent model. Wrong somewhere? Email [email protected] and it gets re-checked.

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