Special payroll deadline for Christmas
If you pay staff early in December because of Christmas it’s important that you enter the information on your payroll submission correctly. What do you need to know to get this right?
PAYE and NI reporting
As an employer you’ll be aware of the deadline that applies for reporting payroll information to HMRC. In recent years HMRC has relaxed this where salaries are paid to employees earlier than their usual pay date over the Christmas period. HMRC has confirmed the concession will apply for the 2025 festive period and that it is now a “permanent easement”.
Enter the right date
If you pay your employees earlier than usual you should nevertheless show the normal payment date on your full payment submission (FPS). This isn’t just an administrative convenience for whoever operates your payroll, it’s important for any of your employees who claim universal credit (UC). Entering the actual rather than the normal date they are paid on the FPS can adversely affect their entitlement to the UC.
Example. You pay your employees on 19 December 2025 whereas you normally pay them on the last working day of the month, in this example that would be 31 December. On your FPS you should show the payment date as 31 December and submit the FPS to HMRC at any time on or before that date.
Related Topics
-
Company buying back shares? Watch out for forthcoming changes
Company owners arranging a retirement, a family succession or a shareholder exit may need to rethink how shares are bought back. The Budget confirms that the government intends to tighten the rules distinguishing capital gains from dividend income, potentially making some buybacks considerably more expensive. How might an ordinary business exit be caught?
-
What can you learn from HMRC’s input tax toolkit?
You know that penalties can be charged on careless errors and many mistakes relate to input tax being wrongly claimed. How can HMRC’s input tax guidance help your business to claim the right amount?
-
A £3,000 side-hustle allowance: more generous than it looks?
People making money from small side businesses will have more room to earn without paying income tax, following a Budget decision to triple the trading allowance. However, the figure relates to what you receive before expenses, not the profit you keep. Will the £3,000 allowance actually save you tax?