HMRC have published their Employer Bulletin for August 2024. We have summarised the key content for you, with links to our detailed guidance on the topics covered.
PAYE electronic payment deadline
As the September 2024 electronic payment deadline falls on Sunday 22 September 2024, funds must reach HMRC’s account by 20 September 2024, unless you can arrange a Faster Payment.
- Late payments may incur a penalty.
See PAYE: Paying HMRC, Penalties: PAYE and late payment and Calendar of tax deadlines and new tax measures
Employer liabilities and payments viewer
HMRC note that the employer liabilities and payments viewer still uses the label ‘Earlier Year Update’ (EYU) for adjustments to previous tax years, but this ceased to be a valid submission type from 2020-21. Therefore, for:
- 2018-19: EYU or Full Payment Submission (FPS) will be accepted.
- 2019-20: EYU or FPS will be accepted.
- 2020-21 onwards: adjustments to be made by submission of FPS only
See RTI: Real-Time Information for PAYE
Student and postgraduate loans
If you receive a student loan or postgraduate loan start notice (SL1/PGL1) from HMRC be sure to check and use the correct:
- Loan or plan type on the start notice.
- Start date shown on the notice.
Update an employee's payroll record to show they have a student loan and or postgraduate loan even where their earnings are below the threshold.
- If deductions are not taken and should have been, HMRC will send a generic notification service prompt. This may be followed by direct contact if not actioned.
- Deductions should continue until HMRC tells you to stop.
See Student Loans
P11D and P11D(b) for 2023-24
The 2023-24 P11D and P11D(b) deadline was 6 July 2024. Class 1A National Insurance Contributions (NICs) should have been paid by 22 July 2024.
- If either remains outstanding, this should be rectified as soon as possible to avoid further penalties.
- Forms P11D and P11D(b) must be submitted together in one online submission.
- A P11D(b) must be filed to report the total benefits liable to Class 1A NICs, even if those benefits were payrolled.
- A P11D must be submitted for each employee in receipt of benefits and or non-exempt expenses unless you registered for payrolling before 6 April 2023.
- It is only necessary to tell HMRC that you do not need to make a return if HMRC sent an electronic notice to file a P11D(b) or a reminder to file a P11D(b) letter.
- Errors in P11D submissions can be corrected by completing an online P11D amendment form.
See P11D: Reporting benefits and expenses
Common P11D or P11D(b) mistakes
Some common mistakes to watch out for are:
- Do not put ‘6 April 2023’ in the start date and/or ‘5 April 2024’ in the end date for company cars, unless they are genuinely the dates the employee received or returned a company car.
- Submissions of forms P11D and P11D(b) must all be done together. It is not possible to submit over several days.
- When reporting a fully electric car, make sure you have included the approved CO2 emissions figure.
- When reporting a hybrid car with an approved CO2 emissions figure between 1 and 50g/km, make sure you have included the approved zero emissions mileage.
- Only send one P11D(b) for each scheme, showing the total due.
See P11D: Reporting benefits and expenses
Payrolling benefits
Employers that have not already registered online to payroll benefits, may wish to do so ahead of the 2025-26 tax year.
- HMRC no longer accepts informal payrolling of benefits.
Tax calculation repayments for PAYE individuals
HMRC is changing the way it repays the majority of PAYE taxpayers who are eligible for BACS refunds and can claim their repayment online.
- Previously, employees who received a tax calculation letter and did not claim the repayment online would automatically receive a cheque after 21 days.
- From 31 May 2024, cheques are no longer issued automatically. Taxpayers will need to take action to receive their repayment by visiting Tax overpayments and underpayments.
- Cheques can be requested through this process. There are alternative routes for taxpayers who cannot claim their repayment online.
Pensions for seasonal temporary staff
Employers taking on extra staff over the summer must check if their workers are eligible for automatic enrolment into a workplace pension.
- Any seasonal or temporary staff must be individually assessed when they are paid. This includes staff with variable hours and pay, whether they are employed for a few days or longer.
- Employers who fail to comply with their workplace pensions’ duties may receive a warning notice and risk a fine.
- Where staff will be working for you for less than three months, you can use postponement to delay assessing those employees.
See Auto-enrolment: Workplace pensions
Employer registrations: when can you expect a reply?
Once you have registered as an employer with HMRC, it can take up to 30 working days to get your employer's PAYE reference number.
- You can check when you can expect a reply from HMRC for a rough estimate.
- HMRC will not respond to any telephone queries unless more than 30 working days have passed since the application was made.
Getting new employees on the right pay
During the onboarding process:
- Gather the correct personal information from your new employee, e.g. name, date of birth and National Insurance number. Double-check these against documents such as their passport.
- Find the correct starter declaration code and tax code.
- Use the correct tax code with starter declaration code C. When the starter checklist determines your employee should be on starter declaration code C, use tax code BR. If you are unable to complete the checklist and your employee has no P45, use tax code 0T with starter declaration code C.
See PAYE Codes: Starters/leavers & 0T code and PAYE: Starter checklist new employee 2024-25
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