Day to day PAYE
In this section:
Completing the paper form P11
You complete a form P11 Deductions Working Sheet or equivalent for each employee to record their pay and deductions for tax, National Insurance contributions (NICs), and any student loan repayments or statutory payments. To work out the figures you need you can use either our PAYE (Pay As You Earn) and NICs calculators or manual tax tables.
As an alterative to completing the paper form you can complete the P11 using either our free P11 Calculator on the Employer CD-Rom or a commercial payroll software package. These methods save time and help reduce error by automatically working out your deductions and completing the P11 form for you. They also make it easier for you to file your Employer Annual Return online.
It is the intention that all employers will be required to file their Annual Return (forms P35 and P14) online from the 2009-10 tax year onwards.
If you use paper P11s you can still file online, but you'll need to copy the figures across.
On this page:
- Where to get the paper P11 Deductions Working Sheet
- Information you'll need to set up the P11
- What you need to record each pay period
- Benefits of switching to non-paper methods
Where to get the paper P11 Deductions Working Sheet
You can:
- download or order multiple copies of the P11 online
- print out copies from the Employer CD-Rom
- order copies from our Employer Orderline on Tel 08457 646 646 (open from 8.00 am to 8.00 pm, Monday to Friday and from 10.00 am to 1.00 pm on Saturdays, closed on Christmas and New Year bank holidays)
(We send you the Employer CD-Rom when you first register as an employer. Thereafter you'll receive an updated CD-Rom in February each year, and again in May to reflect any Budget updates. You can also order a copy from the Employer Orderline.)
Order form P11 or the Employer CD-Rom online
Information you'll need to set up the P11
You'll need to set up the P11 Deductions Working Sheet with basic employee and employer details. Enter the details in the boxes at the top of the P11 as follows:
- Box A - employer name (the name of your business).
- Box B - the name of your HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) Office, and your employer PAYE reference. You'll find this on the letter we sent you when you registered as an employer.
- Box C - employee's surname.
- Box D - employee's first two forenames.
- Box E - employee's National Insurance (NI) number.
- Box F - employee's date of birth.
- Box G - employee's works or payroll number (if applicable).
- Box H - the date the employee started working for you, if this was in the current tax year.
- Box I - the date the employee stopped working for you, if this was in the current tax year.
- Box J - tick this box if you need to make student loan deductions from the employee's pay.
- Box K - employee's tax code.
- Box L - employee's amended tax code and the week or month when the amended code was applied (if applicable).
Your employer PAYE reference and the name of your HM Revenue & Customs office will be on the letter we sent you when you registered as an employer. Your employer PAYE reference is also on your payslip booklet P30BC or P30B letter.
If any employee information is missing
If your employee doesn’t have all the information you need to set up the P11, read our related guidance ‘Taking on a new employee’.
Download an example of how to set up a P11 deductions working sheet (PDF 145K)
Find out how to register as an employer
What you need to record each pay period
Each time you pay an employee you'll need to record their pay and deductions details in the different columns on their P11 Deductions Working Sheet.
- Entries for NICs go in Columns 1a to 1e
- Statutory payments in Columns 1f to 1i.
- Student loan deductions go in Column 1j.
- Entries for PAYE go in Columns 2 to 8.
These entries are separated as follows:
| Column | Description |
|---|---|
| Column 1a | Earnings at the Lower Earnings Limit (LEL) (where earnings are equal to or more than the LEL) |
| Column 1b | Earnings above the LEL up to and including the Earnings Threshold (ET) |
| Column 1c | Earnings above the ET up to and including the Upper Earnings Limit (UEL) |
| Column 1d | The total of employee's and employer's contributions, marking any minus amounts with 'R' |
| Column 1e | Employee's contributions due on all earnings above the ET |
| Column 1f | Statutory Sick Pay (SSP) |
| Column 1g | Statutory Maternity Pay (SMP) |
| Column 1h | Statutory Paternity Pay (SPP) |
| Column 1i | Statutory Adoption Pay (SAP) |
| Column 1j | Student Loan Deductions (SLD) |
| Column 2 | Pay in the week or month, including statutory payments (SSP/SMP/SPP/SAP) |
| Column 3 | Total pay to date |
| Column 4a | Total ‘free pay’ to date (as shown by Tables A) |
| Column 5 | Total taxable pay to date (the amount in Column 3 minus the amount in Column 4a or Column 3 plus Column 4b as applicable) |
| Column 6 | Total tax due |
| Column 7 | Tax deducted or refunded in the week or month, marking refunds with 'R' |
| Column | Description |
|---|---|
| Column 4b | Total additional pay to date (as shown by Tables A) |
| Column 6a | Tax due at the end of the current week or month, marking refunds with 'R' |
| Column 6b | The regulatory limit of 50 per cent of the amount in Column 2 |
| Column 8 | Tax not deducted owing to the regulatory limit |
The final unnumbered column is for your own use. You can use it to record net pay. This is pay (from Column 2) minus deductions - it's the amount your employee actually gets each week or month.
You can find out more about how to record information on P11 in our helpbook E13, 'Day-to-Day Payroll'.
View helpbook E13 'Day-to-Day Payroll' (PDF 521K)
More about employee tax codes - including 'K' codes
Working out the figures you'll need for the paper P11
You can work out the various figures for tax and NIC either using the free tax and NIC calculators available on our website or the Employer CD-Rom, or manually using the tax and NICs tables. Read our related guidance to check the detail.
Calculating PAYE deductions for the paper P11
Calculating NICs for the paper P11
How to calculate and record student loan deductions
Which line of the P11 to start from
The P11 looks like a spreadsheet. It has rows that correspond with the tax weeks or months. The month number is on the far left hand side of the spreadsheet and the week number is in the column next to it.
To make sure you enter the information in the right line, you'll need to find out which tax week or month corresponds with that particular pay day. You can find this information in the table that's included in our helpbook E13, 'Day-to-Day Payroll'. Because PAYE operates on a cumulative basis, it's important to use the correct week or month - this will determine the allowances due to your employee and the tax that's payable.
Go to helpbook E13 'Day-to-Day Payroll’
Finalising the P11 at the end of the year
At the end of the tax year you'll need to complete the P11 by:
- adding up the totals for statutory payments and student loan deductions
- completing the end of year summary for NICs purposes
- working out the pay and tax totals for the year
You'll need this information to complete your Employer Annual Return - forms P35 and P14.
Read about how to finalise your P11 at the end of the tax year
Benefits of switching to non-paper methods
If you’re currently completing a paper form P11 you may wish to consider switching to using commercial payroll software or our free P11 Calculator. These will do many of the calculations for you and make it easier to file your return and other information online using our PAYE Online service.
It is the intention that all employers must file their Employer Annual Return online from April 2010 (those with 50 or more have to do it now). If you miss the deadline you’ll pay a penalty, but there are also tax-free payments if you have fewer than 50 employees and file online before 2010.
There are also separate slightly later deadlines for filing P45s/P46 online.
Paper P11 and filing online
If you complete paper P11s and have fewer than 50 employees you can still file your Employer Annual Return (forms P35 and P14) online using our free of charge ‘Online Return and Forms – PAYE’ service. To use this service you’ll first need to register for PAYE Online for Employers. If you file online before 2010 you’ll still qualify for a tax-free payment.
Employer deadlines for filing PAYE Online
Find out about choosing a payroll software system
Read about using the P11 calculator
