If you need to provide Statutory Sick Pay (SSP), Statutory Maternity Pay (SMP), Ordinary Statutory Paternity Pay (OSPP), Additional Statutory Paternity Pay (ASPP) or Statutory Adoption Pay (SAP) to an employee, these can usually be funded from the payroll deductions you’re due to send to HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC).
However, if you don't have sufficient deductions available to cover your statutory payments, then you may be able to claim funding from HMRC to cover the balance. This guide explains how the funding process works and sets out the information you'll need to provide if making a claim.
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If you're entitled to recover payments of SSP, SMP, SAP, OSPP or ASPP that you've made to an employee, then the usual way to do so is by reducing your monthly or quarterly payments to HMRC by the relevant amount. The payments you can reduce for this purpose are:
If you don't have sufficient deductions now or over the coming months to cover the amount of statutory payments you need to recover, then you can apply to HMRC for a payment to cover the balance. The steps involved in claiming are set out in the sections below.
If you haven't already established that you're entitled to reclaim your statutory payments from HMRC, use the links below to find out.
To apply for funding, you'll need to provide HMRC with information about your PAYE scheme and with details of the statutory payments that your claim relates to.
It's important to provide this information accurately, because errors in the information you submit may cause delays in the processing of your application. If you apply using the online form it will help you give all the correct information.
Your application must include:
The easiest way to claim for the current tax year is to use HMRC online forms. But you can also apply by post or fax.
It's very important that you have all the relevant information to hand before you start to complete the online application, as you can't save your progress once you've started and return to it at a later time.
Choose the relevant online form you need from the following list:
If you're claiming funding for payments to more than one employee, and your claim relates to maternity, paternity or adoption pay, you'll need to submit a separate form for each employee. However, the online form for statutory sick pay allows you to submit the details for five employees at a time.
HMRC aims to deal with online applications within six days of receiving them. The email generated by the online form is secure, but the reply to you is not. This reply will therefore only confirm that HMRC has received your claim - it will not contain any confidential information.
To apply by post or fax, send a letter to your Accounts Office containing the information listed in the earlier section 'Information you need to provide'. HMRC aim to deal with applications made by post or fax within 14 working days.
The contact details of the two Accounts Offices are as follows:
HMRC Accounts Office Shipley
Victoria Street
Shipley
West Yorkshire
BD98 8AA
Fax: 01274 539651
HMRC Accounts Office Cumbernauld
St Mungo's Road
Cumbernauld
Glasgow
G67 1YZ
Fax: 01236 785251
If your claim relates to a period that begins in this tax year and runs into the next one, you can still claim either online or by post or fax, as explained in the previous sections.
It's important that when applying you include two sets of starting and finishing dates for the claim - one for each tax year. The online form for claims relating to maternity pay, adoption pay and additional paternity pay allows you to submit the dates for both tax years on the same form. However, if your claim relates to sick pay or ordinary paternity pay, you'll need to submit a separate online form for each tax year.
With claims that cover two tax years, funding will be issued in two instalments. HMRC aims to send a payment relating to the current tax year within four days of receiving your claim. The balance will then follow in the first month of the new tax year. Any new rates will be taken into account with any payment which spans two tax years.
If your claim relates to a previous tax year you cannot apply for funding online. The procedure to follow depends on whether or not you’ve already made the statutory payment to your employee.
To claim funding in this circumstance, complete a form SP32 and send it to the following address:
HM Revenue & Customs
National Insurance Contributions Office
CORT Multi-erroneous
Room BP1001
Benton Park View
Newcastle upon Tyne
NE98 1ZZ
To claim funding in this circumstance, send a letter to your Accounts Office containing the information listed in the earlier section ‘Information you need to provide’.
The contact details of the two Accounts Offices are as follows:
HMRC Accounts Office Shipley
Victoria Street
Shipley
West Yorkshire
BD98 8AA
Fax: 01274 539651
HMRC Accounts Office Cumbernauld
St Mungo’s Road
Cumbernauld
Glasgow
G67 1YZ
Fax: 01236 785251
