In this section:
PAYE/National Insurance payments and deadlines
This guide provides an overview of the deadlines for paying:
- monthly or quarterly PAYE (Pay As You Earn) including student loan deductions and Construction Industry Scheme payments and Class 1 National Insurance contributions (NICs)
- annual payments of employers' Class 1A NICs
- annual PAYE Settlement Agreements (PSA) payments
It also tells you about late payment interest charges made by HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) - and how to avoid these by initiating your payments in time.
We recommend that you make all of your in-year and annual PAYE, NICs and PSA payments electronically. Paying electronically is fast, secure and convenient provided you give us an accurate reference number.
It is mandatory for employers with 250 or more employees, and whom we have notified, to make their payments electronically, however we recommend that all employers pay this way.
On this page:
- PAYE and Class 1 NICs payment deadlines
- Class 1A National Insurance payment deadlines
- PAYE Settlement Agreement (PSA) payment deadlines
- PAYE/NICs - meeting the payment deadlines
- Interest charges on late PAYE/NICs payments
- PAYE deadlines - interactive tool
- PAYE/NICs - ways to pay
- Notifying HMRC if no PAYE/NIC payment is due
- PAYE/NICs payments - problems or queries
PAYE and Class 1 NICs payment deadlines
| Payment method | Deadline | If the deadline falls on a weekend or bank holiday |
|---|---|---|
| Electronic (BACS Direct Credit, Internet or telephone banking, debit card over the Internet, CHAPS, Paymaster, Bank Giro, Post Office) 22nd of each month |
before the 22nd of each month | Cleared payment must reach our bank account no later than the last bank working day |
| Post | 19th of each month | Cheque must reach our Accounts Office no later than the last bank working day before the 19th |
| Payment method | Deadlines | If the deadline falls on a weekend or bank holiday |
|---|---|---|
| Electronic (BACS Direct Credit, Internet or telephone banking, debit card over the Internet, CHAPS, Paymaster, Bank Giro, Post Office) |
Q1 - 22 July Q2 - 22 October Q3 - 22 January Q4 - 22 April |
Cleared payment must reach our bank account no later than the last bank working day before the 22nd |
| Post | Q1 - 19 July Q2 - 19 October Q3 - 19 January Q4 - 19 April |
Cheque must reach our Accounts Office no later than the last bank working day before the 19th |
Class 1A National Insurance payment deadlines
| Payment method | Deadline | If the deadline falls on a weekend or bank holiday |
|---|---|---|
| Electronic (BACS Direct Credit, Internet or telephone banking, CHAPS, Paymaster, Bank Giro, Post Office) |
22 July Cleared payment must reach our account no later than this date |
Cleared payment must reach our bank account by the last bank working day before 22 July |
| By post | 19 July Cheque must reach our Accounts Office no later than this date |
Cheque must reach our Accounts Office by the last bank working day before 19 July |
PAYE Settlement Agreement (PSA) payment deadlines
| Payment method | Deadline | If the deadline falls on a weekend or bank holiday |
|---|---|---|
| Electronic (BACS Direct Credit, Internet or telephone banking, debit card over the Internet, CHAPS, Paymaster, Bank Giro, Post Office) |
22 October Cleared payment must reach our account no later than this date |
Cleared payment must reach our bank account by the last bank working day before 22 October |
| By post | 19 October Cheque must reach our Accounts Office no later than this date |
Cheque must reach our Accounts Office by the last bank working day before 19 October |
PAYE/NICs - meeting the payment deadlines
If you pay electronically
The tables below provide guidance to help you decide when to initiate your PAYE/NICs/PSA payments in order to avoid missing the deadlines. However please note:
- The tables are only a guide.
- Your bank or building society may take longer to process the payment and will operate a cut-off time during the day for initiating a payment. You therefore need to check these details with them.
| 22nd falls on a | We must have cleared funds by | Last day for initiating payment by (a rough guide) |
|---|---|---|
| Monday | Monday 22nd | Thursday 18th |
| Tuesday | Tuesday 22nd | Friday 18th |
| Wednesday | Wednesday 22nd | Monday 20th |
| Thursday | Thursday 22nd | Tuesday 20th |
| Friday | Friday 22nd | Wednesday 20th |
| Saturday | Friday 21st | Wednesday 19th |
| Sunday | Friday 20th | Wednesday 18th |
| 22nd falls on a | We must have cleared funds by | Last day for initiating payment by (a rough guide) |
|---|---|---|
| Monday | Monday 22nd | Monday 22nd |
| Tuesday | Tuesday 22nd | Tuesday 22nd |
| Wednesday | Wednesday 22nd | Wednesday 22nd |
| Thursday | Thursday 22nd | Thursday 22nd |
| Friday | Friday 22nd | Friday 22nd |
| Saturday | Friday 21st | Friday 21st |
| Sunday | Friday 20th | Friday 20th |
If you pay by post
Where the 19th falls on a weekend or bank holiday, you must ensure that your payment reaches us by the 19th.
To allow for possible postal delays, for which we are not responsible, please allow at least three working days for the payment to reach us.
For interest purposes we will treat your payment as being received on the day we receive your cheque. Where we receive it on a day that the office is closed the date used will be the day the office was first closed. For example, when we receive a cheque on a Monday we will treat it as having been received on the Saturday before.
Interest charges on late PAYE/NICs payments
We charge daily interest on late payments of PAYE/NICs by taking the number of days by which a payment is late and applying the relevant HMRC late payment interest rate. We make the charge after the end of the tax year once we have all the end of year returns and know what was due for each period.
Check current and historic HMRC interest rates on late payments
PAYE deadlines - interactive tool
Follow the link below to the Business Link website where you can create a calendar of your key tax deadlines for the next 12 months. You can also sign up to receive regular email alerts as each date approaches.
Create a calendar of PAYE deadlines on the Business Link website
PAYE/NICs/PSA - ways to pay
We strongly recommend that you use an electronic payment method such as:
- BACS Direct Credit
- Internet or telephone banking
- debit card over the Internet
- CHAPS
- Bank Giro
- payment at the Post Office, which also counts as electronic
You can find out more about these and other payment methods by reading the guidance below.
How to pay Class 1A National Insurance
How to make PAYE Settlement Agreement payments
Find out about mandatory electronic payment for large employers
Notifying HMRC if no PAYE/NIC payment is due
You must let us know if you have no PAYE/NICs payment to make for a tax month or quarter. The best way to tell us is by completing our online form - you can use this to tell us about a previous, current or future month/quarter where no payment is due.
To use this service you'll need to enter the Accounts Office reference - made up of 13 characters, for example: 123PA00045678 - from the front of your payslip booklet or the letter we issue in place of a booklet.
Notify HMRC online that no PAYE/NIC payment is due
Other ways you can let us know are by:
- sending us a signed payslip for the correct month or quarter marked 'NIL due' if you still receive a payslip booklet
- phoning 0845 366 7816 and providing your Accounts Office reference number and the details of the month or quarter for which no payment is due
If you believe no payments will be due for several future months
Please telephone 0845 366 7816 and have your Accounts Office reference number to hand.
PAYE/NICs payments - problems or queries
Follow the links below to find out what to do if you think you'll have a problem meeting a payment deadline, or to ask a question about end of year PAYE. You'll normally receive a response to an email query within two working days.
