Will you have a week 53 payroll year end in 2015?

Close up of payslip

Monthly payrolls never have a week 53 but weekly, fortnightly and for-weekly paid employees will have a week 53 if the process date is Sunday 5th April 2015. If it falls on any other day you don’t have a week 53 this year.

In the ‘Tax week number’ field of your FPS, put:

  • ‘53’ if you pay your employees weekly
  • ‘54’ if you pay them fortnightly
  • ‘56’ if you pay them every 4 weeks

If you make a mistake

If you find a mistake in your final FPS of the year, what you need to do depends on the type of mistake and when you find it.

Mistake When What to do
Wrong payments or deductions By 19 April Send an additional FPS with corrected year-to-date figures, and enter ‘0’ in ‘Pay in this period’
Wrong payments or deductions After 19 April Send an EYU showing the difference between the amounts on the wrong FPS and the correct year-to-date amounts – don’t give the year-to-date amounts
Wrong payment date By 5 April Send an additional FPS with the correct payment date – put ‘0’ in ‘Pay in this period’ and give the year-to-date figures

Payroll Year End – how to stay in control

Tax week 51 starts n Monday 19th March, so there are only 2 weeks till tax year end. For many Payroll Year End brings on feelings of dread and fear, the panic of closing off, printing P60’s, clearing payroll history, re-setting tax codes, tax rates, NI rates, but with a bit of planning and preparation it doesn’t need to be scary.

Here is a quick summary and timetable:

  1. Register online with HMRC https://online.hmrc.gov.uk/registration/organisation
  2. Order your P60’s (including some spares, just in case), you can get them free from HMRC http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/paye/forms-publications/onlineorder.htm
  3. Run your year end payslips as normal and print the P32, check what you have paid against P32 amounts
  4. Print the P11 Workings for PAYE and NI, makesure they are complete, no missed weeks, run some test calculations to double check the answers
  5. Print your P60’s and check them against the Payslips (these have to be issued to current employees by 31st May, but why wait till then? also employees that have left before year end get P45’s they don’t get a P60)
  6. Produce your P35 Employers Return and P14’s (these have the same details at the P60) – due by 19th May but you might as well prepare these when you run the final payslips
  7. Take back ups, print file copies
  8. Whether you use HMRC Basic PAYE Tools or commercial software like Sage, you will have been sent an update for the new tax year, basically, this will help you reset the Tax and NI Bands and change the basic tax code, starting the new tax year should also mean that the history is cleared
  9. HMRC will also have sent you new coding notices to start in the new tax year
  10. When you process your first period in the new tax year carryout your own test calculations on several employees to make sure the answers are correct, it better to deal with problems in the first period than have to roll back or start again later
  11. By the 6th July you will need to do you P11D’s for Benefits in Kind, but there is plenty of time for that

HMRC have a checklist and timetable available at http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/paye/payroll/year-end/checklist.htm

steve@bicknells.net