P60 can anyone explain it to a numpty pls?

[JosephineDeBeauharnais]

I’ve downloaded my P60 from the portal. In the section under Pay headed “In this employment” it has a figure which is the same as the “Total for the year” figure. Alongside is a section Tax deducted again with two matching figures.
Is the pay figure the gross or net amount earned? If it’s gross then it’s thousands less than the salary in my contract, if net of the figure in the tax paid column then it’s about right.
I know I’m being thick but prior to this job I’d been self employed for years so don’t often see one of these. There’s no element of self employment in tax year 20-21 however.

It is the gross figure for the year.

Did you start the job before April 2020?

Total for the year should be the gross figure from which the tax is deducted, but it may not match your contractual salary if you weren’t employed for the whole tax year or have any salary sacrifice arrangements or certain types of pension contributions.

I have been employed in this role since January 2020.

No salary sacrifice but do make pension contributions

Dh’s is minus his pension contributions but mine isn’t. Can’t understand why they’re different as both civil servants.

It's likely to be your gross salary less your pension contributions, but it does depend on the contributions basis of your pension scheme and whether you get the tax relief at source.
Are you a higher rate tax payer (earnings over £50k?) if so, you might also be eligible for more tax relief too.