Quality Standards

Tax codes – incorrect characters and format

Use the code number as provided by HM Revenue & Customs:

• do not use all five spaces of the code number field (unless the code takes them up)
• do not use leading zeros (K123 not K0123)
• do not use suffix ‘H’. Use ‘T’ instead and refer all existing H codes to your HM Revenue & Customs Office for correction
• for codes 0T and D0, the number ‘0’ must be used, not the letter ‘o’
• ‘left justify’ each code number within the field.

The tax code is shown as “NI” on the P14

The tax code field should be left blank.
Some employers use the informal “NI” tax code for students who only work during their vacation to show that just National Insurance is to be deducted. As “NI” is not a valid tax code, a return that shows this will fail our quality standard and will be rejected by HM Revenue & Customs.

PAYE reference – incorrect format

• A valid PAYE reference is made up of the three-digit HM Revenue & Customs office number and the employer’s reference, for example 913/WZ51258. Do not show only the PAYE reference (WZ51258), or use the HM Revenue & Customs office number twice (913/913WZ51258).
• If you are an agent, check with your client for any changes to the three-digit HM Revenue & Customs office during the year.

Using an incorrect (another) employer’s PAYE reference

• Make sure that you use the right PAYE reference (see above) for the right PAYE scheme.

Invalid NINO prefixes (for example NI, PZ, TN)

Use an acceptable NINO prefix (a list is published in the Quality Standard each year). Or, if the NINO is not known, leave the NINO field blank and make an entry in the date of birth and gender fields instead.

Names and Addresses – leading spaces and punctuation

First character in the ‘Name’ field must be a letter, not a number, comma, apostrophe, full stop or space.
Fist character in the ‘Address’ field must be a letter or a number, not a comma, apostrophe, full stop or space.
Postcode field must be in the right format (WC2B 4RD, for example).

Pay and National Insurance earnings – negative figures

The lowest acceptable entry for the pay field and National Insurance earnings fields 1a – 1c is ‘0.00’. You can only use negative figures when sending an amendment.

More than one Return for the same scheme

If you have filed online, do not send your Return on paper "just in case", even if we have sent you a paper P35. If we accept your paper Return before the one you file online, we will regard you as having filed on paper, not online. This means that, if you are a small employer, you will miss out on your tax-free payment. If you are not a small employer and you should have filed online, you will face a penalty for not doing so.

Compressed Return

Make sure that your software uses the correct compression routines.

• Number of parts shown on the P35 must relate only to the number of parts sent containing P14 data. Do not include the P35 or any P38A in your count of the number of parts.
• The number of parts must be the number of (bundles) or submissions sent (online, on paper or by magnetic media). It must not reflect the number of P14s.

Do not send a P35 with every part submission of P14s. Each part containing paper P14s must be accompanied by a “P14 (cover sheet)”.
We recommend that you only send the P35 after you have sent all your P14 parts.

You must use a different Unique Identity number for each part of P14s sent. It is important to remember that individual parts with the same Unique Reference Number overwrite each other. This could lead to incorrect figures being used on the P35, the Return not meeting the Quality Standard and being rejected, and you having to resend the data.

This example explains the problem:

An employer sends six part submissions:

• Part 1, sent on 6 April 2006, had the Unique Reference Number ‘LONDON 01’. It contained 1,500 P14s from the Park Royal factory.
• Part 2, sent on 8 April 2006, had the Unique Reference Number ‘LONDON 01’. It contained 1,500 P14s and was intended to replace Part 1 because of inaccuracies in pay and tax values in the original submission.
• Part 3, sent on 10 April 2006, had the Unique Reference Number ‘LONDON 02’. It contained 100 P14s from the Central London Head Office.
• Part 4, sent on 12 April 2006, had the Unique Reference Number ‘LONDON 03’. It contained 500 P14s from the North London Distribution Office.
• Part 5, sent on 10 May 2006, had the Unique Reference Number ‘LONDON 01’. It contained 10 P14s from the agent doing the directors’ pay separately.
• Part 6 was sent on 11 May 2006. It contained the P35 showing 4 parts and 2,110 P14s for the whole scheme.
  

The submission failed the Quality Standard and was rejected.

Here is why:

• Part 2 overwrites Part 1, as intended, giving 1,500 accurate P14s to be consolidated.
• But Part 5, sent later, had the same Unique Reference Number as Part 2. That means that the 1,500 P14s in Part 2 were overwritten by the 10 P14s in Part 5.
• This leaves only 3 parts and does not match the 4 parts shown in Part 6.
• The total P14s is 1,500 short of the 2,110 shown in Part 6.

Remember that each individual part submission must have its own Unique Reference Number.