Q. The UK 2018/19 tax-year is well and truly underway now and so we are starting to think about getting everything ready to fill in our P11D forms for 2017/18. Is there a single place where guidance, booklets and forms are stored on Gov.UK?
A. It would be just great if that were the case. But looking on the bright side, everything is actually on the website as long as you know where to look. However, allow me to try to consolidate all of the expenses and benefits information you might need here:
Guidance
- Overview: Guidance on reporting, deadlines and records that must be kept;
- Expenses and benefits A–Z: A good guide to the most common benefits provided to employees, with links to technical help for each one;
- P11D guide: An aid to help you complete the P11D form;
- Trivial benefits: A useful link which explains that, where a benefit expense is classed as trivial, no P11D reporting obligation exists at all;
- Common mistakes: This link goes to Her Majesty’s Revenue & Customs (HMRC) internal Pay as you Earn (PAYE) Manual - and specifically to the part that indicates why P11Ds are rejected.
For the sake of completeness, you might also be interested in guidance on payrolling benefits, that is taxing benefits through payroll rather than declaring on the P11D. Also take a look at HMRC’s internal PAYE Manual if you are feeling brave. It is a bit of a tome though so I would recommend reading the above before starting on it.
Booklets
No payroll department can be complete without having the following essential reads to hand:
- Booklet 480: The ‘Bible’ of P11D processing;
- Booklet 490: The ultimate tax and National Insurance Contribution (NIC) guide to employee travel, which is frequently referred to in Booklet 480 too;
- Class 1A NICs: This was previously called the CWG5 when it was produced as a booklet. It now comes in the form of online-only guidance, but is very comprehensive.
The most common payroll tables and helpbooks are consolidated on Gov.UK’s ‘Payroll publications for employers’ page. It also includes tables for calculating tax and NICs manually.
Forms
To help employers calculate the value of the actual benefits, two main forms are required - the P11D and the P11D(b) – as well as six Working Sheets:
- P11D pdf;
- P11D(b) pdf for declaring Class 1A NICs;
- Working Sheet 1 if living accommodation has been provided;
- Working Sheet 2 if car and/or car fuel has been provided;
- Working Sheet 2b if car and/or car fuel has been provided under an Optional Remuneration Arrangement;
- Working Sheet 3 for company cars and/or fuel;
- Working Sheet 4 for interest-free and low interest loans to employees;
- Working Sheet 5 for relocation expenses and payments;
- Working Sheet 6 for mileage allowance payments in excess of the exempt amounts.
Just as a final note, it might also make sense to download all of the information you require and keep it in a folder somewhere as Gov.UK does have a habit of changing where it keeps its information. Good luck anyway…
Ian Holloway is head of legislation and compliance at Cintra HR and Payroll Services. He has been in the payroll profession for over 30 years, processing payrolls large and small from organisations across all sectors until 2011 when he started helping to educate the profession by means of course material, newsletters and face-to-face presentations.
Q. The UK 2018/19 tax-year is well and truly underway now and so we are starting to think about getting everything ready to fill in our P11D forms for 2017/18. Is there a single place where guidance, booklets and forms are stored on Gov.UK?
A. It would be just great if that were the case. But looking on the bright side, everything is actually on the website as long as you know where to look. However, allow me to try to consolidate all of the expenses and benefits information you might need here:
Guidance
- Overview: Guidance on reporting, deadlines and records that must be kept;
- Expenses and benefits A–Z: A good guide to the most common benefits provided to employees, with links to technical help for each one;
- P11D guide: An aid to help you complete the P11D form;
- Trivial benefits: A useful link which explains that, where a benefit expense is classed as trivial, no P11D reporting obligation exists at all;
- Common mistakes: This link goes to Her Majesty’s Revenue & Customs (HMRC) internal Pay as you Earn (PAYE) Manual - and specifically to the part that indicates why P11Ds are rejected.
For the sake of completeness, you might also be interested in guidance on payrolling benefits, that is taxing benefits through payroll rather than declaring on the P11D. Also take a look at HMRC’s internal PAYE Manual if you are feeling brave. It is a bit of a tome though so I would recommend reading the above before starting on it.
Booklets
No payroll department can be complete without having the following essential reads to hand:
- Booklet 480: The ‘Bible’ of P11D processing;
- Booklet 490: The ultimate tax and National Insurance Contribution (NIC) guide to employee travel, which is frequently referred to in Booklet 480 too;
- Class 1A NICs: This was previously called the CWG5 when it was produced as a booklet. It now comes in the form of online-only guidance, but is very comprehensive.
The most common payroll tables and helpbooks are consolidated on Gov.UK’s ‘Payroll publications for employers’ page. It also includes tables for calculating tax and NICs manually.
Forms
To help employers calculate the value of the actual benefits, two main forms are required - the P11D and the P11D(b) – as well as six Working Sheets:
- P11D pdf;
- P11D(b) pdf for declaring Class 1A NICs;
- Working Sheet 1 if living accommodation has been provided;
- Working Sheet 2 if car and/or car fuel has been provided;
- Working Sheet 2b if car and/or car fuel has been provided under an Optional Remuneration Arrangement;
- Working Sheet 3 for company cars and/or fuel;
- Working Sheet 4 for interest-free and low interest loans to employees;
- Working Sheet 5 for relocation expenses and payments;
- Working Sheet 6 for mileage allowance payments in excess of the exempt amounts.
Just as a final note, it might also make sense to download all of the information you require and keep it in a folder somewhere as Gov.UK does have a habit of changing where it keeps its information. Good luck anyway…
Ian Holloway is head of legislation and compliance at Cintra HR and Payroll Services. He has been in the payroll profession for over 30 years, processing payrolls large and small from organisations across all sectors until 2011 when he started helping to educate the profession by means of course material, newsletters and face-to-face presentations.
