Updated: Information on reporting Apprenticeship Levy added to the page.
As an employer running payroll, you should report your employee’s pay and deductions in a FPS on or before their payday (unless an exception applies).
You should also send an EPS by the 19th of the following tax month for HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) to apply any reduction (for example, statutory pay) on what you’ll owe from your FPS.
If you’ve not paid any employees in a tax month, send an EPS instead of a FPS.
Your payroll software may have different names for the fields below.
Employer information
Report these in every FPS and EPS.
Field
Description
HMRC office number
The first part of your employer PAYE reference (3 digits) - this is on the letter HMRC sent you when you registered as an employer. You can also find it on P6 or P9 coding notices
Employer PAYE reference
The second part of your employer PAYE reference (the letters and numbers after the slash)
Accounts Office reference
Format ‘123PA00012345’ - you’ll get this from HMRC after you’ve registered as an employer. It’s also on letter P30B if you pay electronically, or payment booklet P30BC if you don’t
Related tax year
The Income Tax year that this report relates to
Include these if they apply to your business.
Field
Description
Employer’s Contracted Out Number (ECON)
Get this from your contracting-out certificate or pension scheme administrator
SA UTR
Your Unique Taxpayer Reference (UTR) for Self Assessment (SA) if you’re a sole trader, or the partnership UTR if you’re a partnership
COTAX reference
Your Corporation Tax reference, if you’re a limited company. If you have more than one, enter the reference for the company responsible for employment contracts
Employee information
Report this information in a FPS every time you pay an employee.
Field
Description
National Insurance number
The employee’s National Insurance number. Leave blank if you don’t know it, but make sure you enter their address
Title
Surname or family name
Forename or given name
Second forename or given name
Initials
Only needed if you don’t know their full forename(s)
Date of birth
Gender
Address
Enter their address if they’re a new employee, you don’t know their National Insurance number or the employee’s address has changed
UK postcode
Foreign country
Only enter their country of residence if they live outside the UK, Channel Islands or Isle of Man. Also complete the ‘Address’ field
Payroll ID
You can assign payroll IDs to your employees. The ID must be unique. Use a different one if you re-employ someone (if you do this within the same tax year restart their year-to-date information from ‘£0.00’) or have an employee who has more than one job in the same PAYE scheme. If you reuse a previous payroll ID you’ll create a duplicate record and report payroll incorrectly
Payroll ID changed indicator
Only set the payroll ID changed indicator when reporting payroll ID changes and ensure both the ‘OLD’ and ‘NEW’ payroll ID is entered. You should not include the original start date. Don’t put ‘Yes’ if you used a different payroll ID when you re-employed someone who left in the same tax year
Old payroll ID for this employment
Only enter their old ID if it’s changed since your last FPS. You mustn’t complete this if you are re-employing someone. If you don’t supply it, and they have more than one job in your PAYE scheme, your PAYE bill may be calculated incorrectly
Irregular payment pattern indicator
Only put ‘Yes’ if the employee isn’t being paid regularly (for example, they’re a casual employee or on long-term sick leave) or if you’re not going to pay them for 3 months or more
Pay and deductions
Report information about each employee’s pay and deductions in a FPS.
Pay and deductions made this period
Field
Description
Taxable pay
The total pay to the employee that is taxable (even if tax is not due) in this period, including any benefits in kind which you have taxed via the payroll
Tax deducted or refunded
Student Loan deductions recovered
Pay after statutory deductions
Their net pay after you’ve deducted tax, National Insurance contributions (NICs) and Student Loan repayments. Don’t include payments you’re including in ‘Non-tax or NIC payment’
Deductions from net pay
Any other deductions you’ve taken for example, child maintenance payments (don’t include tax, NICs and Student Loan repayments)
On strike
Only put ‘Yes’ if you reduced your employee’s pay because they were on strike
Non-tax or NIC payment
Any payment made to the employee that is not subject to PAYE tax or NICs that has been sent with the ‘salary’ payment for this period
Year to date totals
Field name
Description
Taxable pay to date
The total taxable pay to date in this employment only, including any benefits that have been taxed through the payroll, including this payment
Total tax to date
Total Student Loan repayment recovered to date
If you’ve employed the same person more than once in a tax year, report for their current employment only.
Pension deductions
Field
Description
Employee pension contributions paid under ‘net pay arrangements’
Pension contributions paid under ‘net pay arrangements’ in this pay period
Employee pension contributions not paid under a ‘net pay arrangement’
Contributions taken from their pay after deducting tax and NICs in this period
Employee pension contributions paid under ‘net pay arrangements’ year to date
The amount of pension contributions your employee paid under the ‘net pay arrangements’, to date, in this employment, within the tax year
Employee pension contributions not paid under a ‘net pay arrangement’ year to date
The amount of pension contributions that are not paid under the ‘net pay arrangements’, to date, in this employment, within the tax year
Statutory maternity, paternity, adoption and shared parental pay
Field
Description
Statutory Maternity Pay (SMP) year to date
Statutory Paternity Pay (SPP) year to date
Statutory Adoption Pay (SAP) year to date
Statutory Shared Parental Pay (ShPP) year to date
ShPP: Partner surname or family name
Only put this when you report ShPP for the first time for this employee
ShPP: Partner forename or given name
Only put this when you report ShPP for the first time for this employee
ShPP: Partner second forename or given name
Only put this when you report ShPP for the first time for this employee
ShPP: Partner National Insurance number
Only put this when you report ShPP for the first time for this employee
If you pay benefits through payroll
Enter this information if you’ve agreed with HMRC to tax benefits through payroll, instead of reporting in the normal way.
Field
Description
Items subject to Class 1 National Insurance only
Benefits this period taxed via payroll
Also include this in ‘Taxable pay in this period’
Benefits taxed via payroll year to date
Employee pay information
Report details of each payment you make an employee in a FPS.
Field name
Description
Employee tax code
Employee tax code: Week 1/Month 1 indicator
Only put ‘Yes’ if their tax code has ‘W1’ or ‘M1’ at the end
Employee hours normally worked
Put ‘A’ if less than 16 hours, ‘B’ if 16 to 23.99 hours, ‘C’ if 24 to 29.99 hours, or ‘D’ if 30 hours or more. Put ‘E’ if you don’t pay your employee regularly or you pay them a workplace pension or annuity
Pay frequency
Put ‘W1’ if weekly, ‘W2’ if fortnightly, ‘W4’ if every 4 weeks, ‘M1’ if monthly, ‘M3’ if quarterly, ‘M6’ if twice a year, ‘MA’ if annually, ‘IO’ if a one-off payment, or ‘IR’ if you pay your employee irregularly
Payment date
The date you paid them, not the date you run your payroll. Use the normal payday if it falls on a non-banking day
Tax week number
The week you paid them if you pay them weekly, fortnightly or every 4 weeks
Tax month number
The month you paid them if you pay them monthly, quarterly, twice a year or annually
Number of earnings periods covered by payment
Bacs hash code
Only put this if you’re paying them through Bacs using your own Service User Number (SUN)
Aggregated earnings indicator
Only put ‘Yes’ if you’ve added the earnings from more than one job to work out their National Insurance
Late reporting reason
If you send a FPS after your employee’s payday, let HMRC know why in the ‘Late reporting reason’ field.
HMRC code
Situation
When to report
G
You have a reasonable excuse
As soon as possible
H
You correct an earlier payroll report
On your next regular FPS, or an additional FPS, report the correct payment details. Send by the 19th of the tax month after your original FPS for HMRC to show the correction in that month’s PAYE bill
F
You have an employee who’s either paid less than £112 a week or has worked with you for less than a week
Within 7 days of paying your employee
D
You pay your employee an expense or benefit where you must pay NICs, but not Income Tax, through payroll. This depends on the benefit
Within 14 days of the end of the tax month
F
You pay your employee based on their work on the day (for example, harvest workers paid based on how much they pick)
Within 7 days of paying your employee
A
You’re an overseas employer paying an expat employee, or you pay them through a third party
By the 19th of the tax month after making the payment
B
You pay your employee in shares at less than market value
Usually by the 19th of the tax month of giving them the shares - contact HMRC for complex situations
C
You make any other non-cash payment (for example, vouchers or credit tokens) to your employee
By the 19th of the tax month after making the payment
If HMRC disagrees or you don’t send a FPS or EPS, they may send you a filing notice through PAYE Online or your commercial payroll software package. Penalties for late reporting started from 6 October 2014.
National Insurance
Include information about National Insurance in your FPS when you pay an employee £112 or more a week.
For employees paid less, you only need to include this information if you’re not required to report their earnings for tax (for example, you’re an overseas employer that doesn’t need to pay tax in the UK).
Field
Description
National Insurance category letter
Your employee’s National Insurance category letter. You can use up to 4 for each payment
Gross earnings for NICs in this period
The total pay that’s subject to NICs this period - usually all payments £112 a week or over. Also include pay below this if you’re not required to report it for tax
Gross earnings for NICs year to date
The total pay subject to NICs this tax year
Earnings at the Lower Earnings Limit (LEL) year to date
The total pay at £112 a week (£486 a month) or over. Don’t include any smaller payments, even if you’re not required to report it for tax
Earnings above LEL up to and including the Primary Threshold (PT) year to date
The total pay between £112 and £155 a week (or £486 and £672 a month)
Earnings above the PT, up to and including the Upper Accrual Point (UAP) year to date
The total pay between £156 and £770 a week (or £676 and £3,337 a month)
Earnings above the UAP, up to and including the Upper Earnings Limit (UEL) year to date
The total pay between £770 and £815 a week (or £3,337 and £3,532 a month)
Employee contributions payable this period
The primary contributions (employee’s NICs) deducted from your employee’s pay this period.
If you don’t pay an employee in a pay period enter 0.00
Employee contributions payable year to date
The total primary contributions (employee’s NICs) deducted from your employee’s pay.
If you don’t pay an employee in a pay period put the same figure as on your last FPS
Total of employer’s contributions payable in this pay period
The secondary contributions (employer’s NICs) you need to pay this period.
If you don’t pay an employee in a pay period enter 0.00
Total of employer’s contributions payable year to date
The total secondary contributions (employer’s NICs).
If you don’t pay an employee in a pay period put the same figure as on your last FPS
Scheme Contracted Out Number (SCON)
Only put this if you run a contracted-out workplace pension scheme and your employee’s National Insurance category letter is D, E, I, K, L, N, O or V. You can find your SCON on your contracting-out certificate or from your pension provider
Report this National Insurance information when you pay a director.
Field
Description
Director’s NIC calculation method
Put ‘AN’ if you’re using the standard annual method of work out the director’s NICs, or ‘AL’ if you’re using the alternative method
Week of director’s appointment
Put the tax week the director was appointed
EPS: what to report
Send an EPS by the 19th to claim any reduction on what you’ll owe HMRC (for example, statutory pay) from your FPS sent the previous tax month. If you’ve not paid any employees in a tax month, send an EPS instead of an FPS.
Include your employer information as well as the below.
Reclaiming statutory pay for parents and Construction Industry Scheme deductions
Fill in these fields in your EPS if you:
reclaim statutory maternity, paternity, adoption and shared parental pay - you can reclaim 92%, or 103% if your business qualifies for Small Employers’ Relief
made Construction Industry Scheme (CIS) deductions
If you run more than one payroll under the same PAYE employer reference, include the total amount of reductions for all those payrolls.
Field
Description
Tax month
Put which tax month the EPS credit is for
Statutory Maternity Pay (SMP) reclaimed this tax year
Put how much statutory maternity payment you’ve claimed
Statutory Maternity Pay NIC compensation recovered this tax year
Put how much NICs compensation you’ve recovered through Small Employers’ Relief
Statutory Paternity Pay (SPP) reclaimed this tax year
Put how much statutory paternity payment you’ve reclaimed
Statutory Paternity Pay NIC compensation recovered this tax year
Put how much compensation you’ve recovered through Small Employers’ Relief
Statutory Adoption Pay (SAP) reclaimed this tax year
Put how much statutory adoption payment you’ve reclaimed
Statutory Adoption Pay NIC compensation recovered this tax year
Put how much NICs compensation you’ve reclaimed through Small Employers’ Relief
Statutory Shared Parental Pay (ShPP) reclaimed this tax year
Put how much Statutory Shared Parental Pay (ShPP) you’ve reclaimed this tax year
Statutory Shared Parental Pay (ShPP) recovered this tax year’
Put how much NICs compensation you’ve recovered through Small Employers’ Relief
CIS deductions suffered
If you’re a limited company that has had CIS deductions made from payments received for work in the construction industry, enter the total amount of CIS deductions suffered year to date
Bank details
Include details of the bank you want HMRC to pay into if you’re overpaid or you’ve reclaimed any statutory maternity, paternity or adoption pay or CIS deductions.
Field
Description
Name of account holder
Account number
Branch sort code
Building society reference
If applicable
You didn’t pay any employees in a period
Send an EPS with the following information by the 19th after the tax month you didn’t pay any employees. The tax month starts on the 6th. Don’t send an FPS.
Field
Description
No payment for period
Put ‘Yes’ to tell HMRC you didn’t pay any employees
No payment dates from
Put the 6th of the first month where you didn’t pay any employees
No payment dates to
Put the 5th of the last month where you didn’t pay any employees
Period of inactivity from
Tell HMRC in advance if you won’t be paying any employees for a minimum period of one month, and a maximum of 12 months. Put the 6th of the first month where you won’t pay employees - you can only notify from the beginning of the next tax month
Period of inactivity to
Put the 5th of the last month where you won’t pay any employees
Claim Employment Allowance
You could get up to £3,000 a year off your National Insurance if you claim Employment Allowance.
Field
Description
Employment Allowance indicator
Put ‘Yes’ to automatically claim the allowance each year. Only put ‘No’ if you are ineligible to claim, see further guidance to know when to stop your claim. There is no need to put ‘No’ if you have reached your full allowance entitlement.
Report Apprenticeship Levy
From April 2017, employers who have an annual pay bill greater than £3 million, or who are connected to other employers by virtue of the connected companies or connected charities rules, which in total have an annual pay bill of more than £3 million, need to tell HMRC about their Apprenticeship Levy.
Field
Description
Tax year
Put the tax year to which the return of the Apprenticeship Levy relates
Employer’s HMRC office number
Employer‘s PAYE reference
Put the PAYE reference to which the return of the Apprenticeship Levy relates
Employer’s accounts office reference
Annual Apprenticeship Levy Allowance Amount
Amount of annual Apprenticeship Levy Allowance the employer is allocating to the employer’s PAYE reference
Apprenticeship Levy due year to date
Amount of Apprenticeship Levy liability due to date which the employer has calculated
Tax month
Put the tax month to which the return of Apprenticeship Levy relates
New employees
When an employee starts working for you, register them with HMRC by including this information in your FPS the first time you pay them.
Field
Description
Start date
Only fill this in the first time you pay a new employee
Starter declaration
Put the starter declaration that you’ve worked out. Don’t put anything for new pensioners, or employees seconded from abroad
Student Loan indicator
Put ‘Yes’ if your employee needs you to make Student Loan deductions
Address
UK postcode
Foreign country
Only put their country of residence if they live outside the UK, Channel Islands or Isle of Man
Passport number
Include this if you reviewed your employee’s passport to check they can work in the UK
There are special rules for what to fill in if you:
pay a workplace pension
take on an employee seconded from abroad
When an employee leaves
Report this information when an employee leaves or if you close your PAYE scheme.
Field
Description
Date of leaving
Payment after leaving indicator
Put ‘Yes’ if you pay an employee after you’ve sent an FPS with their leaving date (for example, you’re paying them after giving them a P45)
Workplace pensions
Report this information when you’re paying a workplace pension or annuity.
Field
Description
Occupational pension indicator
Put ‘Yes’ if you make occupational pension payments
Annual amount of occupational pension
Only put this the first time you pay someone from an HMRC-registered workplace pension scheme. Otherwise leave this field blank (don’t enter £0.00)
Employee receiving occupational pension because they’re a recently bereaved spouse/civil partner
Put ‘Yes’ if this applies
Trivial commutation payment type
If you’re paying a lump sum - put ‘A’ for a trivial commutation lump sum (TCLS), ‘B’ if it’s from a personal pension scheme, or ‘C’ if it’s from a workplace or public service pension scheme
Trivial commutation payment
The lump sum paid. Also fill in the ‘Taxable pay to date’ and ‘Taxable pay in this period’ fields, and put any non-taxable amount in the ‘Non-tax or NIC payment’ field
Payment to a non-individual
Put ‘Yes’ if you make payments to a personal representative, trustee or corporate organisation etc
End-of-year or final reports
You’ll need to complete certain annual reports and tasks to prepare for the next tax year, which starts on 6 April.
Report this information in your final FPS or EPS of the tax year. You should also fill in the relevant fields if it’s your last report because you’re closing your PAYE scheme.
Field
Description new
Final submission for year
Put ‘Yes’ to tell HMRC this is your final payroll report of the tax year
Ceased indicator
Put ‘Yes’ if this is the last report because you’re closing your PAYE scheme. Also enter ‘Date scheme ceased’ and the ‘Date of leaving’ for all your employees. Don’t fill in ‘Final submission for year’
Date scheme ceased
Forms P11D and P11D(b) due
Put ‘Yes’ if you’ve given any employees expenses or benefits this year that you’ll need to report
Employees pay to third party
Only put ‘Yes’ if you’ve paid your employee’s salary or wages to anyone else this year (excluding any payments related to child maintenance or salary sacrifice)
Employees out of UK
Only put ‘Yes’ if anyone employed abroad also worked for you in the UK for more than 29 days this year
Free of tax payments
Only put ‘Yes’ if you paid any of your employees’ tax for them this year
Service company
Only put ‘Yes’ if you’re a service company that’s operated IR35 this year
Expenses and benefits
Only put ‘Yes’ if anyone else paid expenses or benefits to any of your employees while they were employed by you this year