PAYE76070 - PAYE operation: pensioners: P46(DWP)

When a person qualifies for a state retirement or bereavement benefit, the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) (in Northern Ireland the DSS) sends a form P46(DWP) to the Inland Revenue Pensions Liaison Section (IRPLS) at Newcastle for distribution to the pensioner's primary record. More information about coding bereavement benefits can be found in SPD 6g.1 (PDF 136KB) (HMRC Intranet), available on the Customer Operations Guidance Gateway.

You may sometimes receive a form P46(DWP) up to four months before a pension is due. However, it is more likely that you will receive them close to the qualifying date or after the pension has become payable.

Note: The form P46(DWP) should not be processed until the week in which the state pension commences, along with the P161, if received.

All forms P46(DWP) produced by the DWP computer are sent out if they show

• A tax office and reference

• A bereavement benefit

Forms are only otherwise sent if they show a pension or benefit exceeding £38 per week.

The form P46(DWP) is in two parts

• Part one gives information about the individual
• Part two is a detachable slip to be completed if the pensioner is to be included in the DWP Uprating Service

If you receive a form P46(DWP) and have no live individual record, first use ‘Quick search’, see PAYE120010 and / or ‘Trace and match - individual’, see PAYE120015, to attempt to trace the individual. The Action Guide relating to what to do where an individual is traced / not traced has been replaced with SPD 6g.2 (PDF 249KB) (HMRC Intranet) which is available on the Customer Operations Guidance Gateway.

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