Paying by Direct Debit
Issue 32 of Employer Bulletin announced the facility to make monthly or quarterly payments by Direct Debit.
Provided you are registered and enrolled for the 'PAYE for employers' Online service, using Direct Debit Online offers a safe, secure and convenient way for you to make your monthly or quarterly payments.
If you are a new user, you will need to register and enrol for the 'PAYE for employers' service by going to our website and selecting PAYE for employers from the do it online menu. Log on to the Welcome to Online Services page then select Direct Debit payment from the Main menu and follow the on-screen links.
Although this will give you immediate access to Direct Debit Online, when you receive your activation PIN please activate the service. You must activate this within 28 days to ensure that you have access to Direct Debit Online next time you want to make a payment.
We have identified two areas of our guidance which require clarification.
Payment reference
When setting up a Direct Debit payment you are asked to enter a 13-character 'Payment reference' in the format 123PX12345678. There is then an optional 'Year end and Month' box.
You only need to complete this box where the payment you are making is not for the current month or quarter.
If the 'Payment date' you enter is the 22nd of the month in which payment is due, or is in the two weeks immediately before, you can leave the 'Year end and Month' box blank.
If you complete the ‘Year end and Month’ box, the table below shows you what to enter:
Payment for month: |
Due on or before: |
PAYE Month |
'Enter Year end and Month' |
PAYE quarter ended: |
|---|---|---|---|---|
6th Aug - 5th Sep |
22nd Sep |
05 |
1005 |
-------- |
6th Sep - 5th Oct |
22nd Oct |
06 |
1006 |
5th Oct |
6th Oct - 5th Nov |
22nd Nov |
07 |
1007 |
-------- |
6th Nov – 5th Dec |
22nd Dec |
08 |
1008 |
-------- |
6th Dec – 5th Jan |
22nd Jan |
09 |
1009 |
5th Jan |
6th Jan - 5th Feb |
22nd Feb |
10 |
1010 |
-------- |
6th Feb - 5th Mar |
22nd Mar |
11 |
1011 |
-------- |
6th Mar – 5th Apr |
22nd Apr |
12 |
1012 |
5th Apr |
Where your payment relates to a deduction year earlier than 2009-10, please show the month as 12. For example, a payment for year 2008-09 would show ’0912’ as the 'Year end and Month'.
If you enter the wrong 'Year end and Month' your payment will be incorrectly allocated and you may receive a reminder.
Making another payment
There is no need to set up a new Direct Debit Instruction (DDI) each time there is a new monthly or quarterly Direct Debit payment to make.
You only need to set up a new DDI if you wish us to collect your payment from a different bank or building society account.
You can re-use the DDI you set up previously to make your next and subsequent
payments.
To do this:
- select PAYE for employers from the do it online menu
- log on the Welcome to Online Services page
- select Direct Debit payment from the Main menu
- click on the Direct Debit reference that you wish to use in the left hand column of the table on the Summary of your Direct Debit Instructions (DDIs) screen
- use the 'Add payment plan' link to add a Pay As You Earn payment
Please remember that the Direct Debit payment you have created will not be visible in your HMRC Online account area for up to 36 hours.
