PAYE year-end tasks

Guide summary

Send your final Full Payment Submission (FPS) on or before your employees' last payday of the tax year
Send an Employer Payment Summary (EPS) by 19 April if you forgot to mark your last FPS as final
Give a P60 to every employee on your payroll on 5 April by 31 May
Do not give a P60 to employees who left before 5 April
Submit P11D forms and give employees a copy by 6 July for benefits that were not payrolled
Pay Class 1A National Insurance by 22 July if electronic, or 19 July by cheque
A late FPS can bring a monthly penalty, but there is none if all payments are reported within 3 days of payday
You can appeal a penalty if it is not due, the amount is wrong or you had a reasonable excuse

The tax year runs from 6 April to 5 April. At the end of each tax year, employers must complete specific tasks to close out the year and prepare for the new one.

Tax year end: 5 April
Final FPS deadline: On or before the last payday of the tax year
Final EPS deadline (if needed): 19 April
P60 deadline: 31 May
P11D deadline: 6 July
Class 1A NIC deadline: 22 July (electronic) or 19 July (cheque)

Before 6 April - Preparation

Apply new tax codes - HMRC sends new codes in February/March
Update payroll software - ensure new rates and thresholds are loaded
Review employee records - check addresses, NI numbers, tax codes
Plan final payroll - schedule processing before 5 April

By the last payday - Final FPS

Send your final FPS on or before your employees' last payday of the tax year, which ends on 5 April. Enter "Yes" in the "Final submission for year" field if your payroll software has one. If you run more than one payroll under the same PAYE scheme reference, put the end-of-year information in the last report you send.

Send your final report on an Employer Payment Summary (EPS) instead, by 19 April, if you forgot to mark your last FPS as final, your software has no "Final submission for year" field, or you paid no one in the final pay period.

If pay or deductions in the final FPS are wrong, send an additional FPS with corrected year-to-date figures by 19 April. After 19 April, send an FPS showing the correct year-to-date amounts.

P60 end of year certificate

Requirements for providing P60 certificates to employees.

A P60 is an annual certificate showing an employees total pay and tax deducted during the tax year. Employers must provide one to every employee on their payroll on 5 April.

Who gets a P60: All employees on your payroll on 5 April (last day of tax year)
Deadline to provide: By 31 May following the tax year end
Format: Paper or electronic (with employee agreement for electronic)
Leavers: Do NOT issue P60 to employees who left before 5 April
Multiple employments: Issue P60 for each PAYE employment with you

Information on P60

Employee details: Name, National Insurance number
Pay in this employment: Total taxable pay in the tax year
Tax deducted: Total income tax deducted
NI contributions: Employees NI deducted and NI category
Student loan deductions: Total student loan deducted (if applicable)
Statutory payments: SSP, SMP, etc. paid
Final tax code: Tax code used at year end

Why employees need P60

Employees use their P60 to:

Complete Self Assessment tax returns
Prove income for mortgage applications
Claim tax refunds from HMRC
Apply for benefits or tax credits

Give employees a P60 (opens in a new tab)

By 6 July - P11D returns

If you provided expenses or benefits to employees that were NOT payrolled:

Submit P11D online - for each employee who received benefits
Submit P11D(b) - summary showing Class 1A NIC due
Give employees copy - by 6 July
Pay Class 1A NIC - by 22 July (or 19 July by cheque)

New tax year preparation

Update rates - NMW, SSP, SMP, NI thresholds change each April
Apply tax code changes - new codes effective from 6 April
Claim Employment Allowance - submit EPS to claim for new year
Check statutory payment rates - new weekly amounts apply

RTI late submission penalties

Penalties for late or non-filing of FPS and EPS submissions.

HMRC charges a monthly penalty when a Full Payment Submission (FPS) is late, or when you do not send the expected number of FPSs or an Employer Payment Summary (EPS) for a month in which you paid nobody. The amount depends on how many employees you have, and HMRC sends penalty notices every quarter.

1 to 9 employees: £100 a month
10 to 49 employees: £200 a month
50 to 249 employees: £300 a month
250 or more employees: £400 a month
3-day rule: No penalty if every reported payment is within 3 days of payday
New employer: No penalty if the first FPS is sent within 30 days of paying an employee
First failure in a tax year: No penalty (annual schemes excepted)
Several PAYE schemes: Penalties can be charged for each scheme

When no penalty is charged

The FPS is late but all reported payments are within 3 days of payday, although employers who regularly file late may be contacted or considered for a penalty
You are a new employer and sent your first FPS within 30 days of paying an employee
It is your first failure in the tax year to send a report on time, unless you are an annual scheme
You sent an EPS to say you paid no employees in the month

Specified charges and appeals

If you do not send an FPS or the EPS, HMRC may raise a specified charge based on an estimate of what you should pay. Only sending the missing report replaces the charge with the amount actually due. You pay no interest on a penalty if you pay it within 30 days of the notice. You can appeal if the penalty is not due, the amount is wrong, or you had a reasonable excuse.

What happens if you do not report payroll information on time (opens in a new tab)

Legal basis

Primary legislation and key regulations

Taxes Management Act 1970 Primary 1970 · UK-wide The Income Tax (Pay As You Earn) Regulations 2003 SI 2003 · UK-wide

Browse UK legislation legislation.gov.uk

Official guidance

Employer National Insurance rates (opens in a new tab)

HMRC

Employment Allowance (opens in a new tab)

HMRC

Find payroll software (opens in a new tab)

HMRC

PAYE and payroll for employers (opens in a new tab)

HMRC

Pay Apprenticeship Levy (GOV.UK) (opens in a new tab)

HMRC

Running payroll (opens in a new tab)

HMRC

PAYE year-end tasks

Before 6 April - Preparation

By the last payday - Final FPS

By 6 July - P11D returns

New tax year preparation

Legal basis

Official guidance

Next steps

Growing your business

Start importing goods to the UK

Transfer ownership of your business

Related guides in Tax & Finance

Run payroll and submit RTI

Pay PAYE to HMRC

Understand PAYE tax codes

Handle a new starter without a P45

Correct PAYE errors