- Expenses and benefits: the basics
- End-of-year forms at a glance: P9D, P11D, P11D(b)
- Reporting company cars on form P46 (Car)
- Expenses and benefits record keeping
- Correcting errors in expenses and benefits reporting
End-of-year forms at a glance: P9D, P11D, P11D(b)
After the end of the tax year you need to complete and file your key expenses and benefits forms - a form P11D or P9D for each employee to whom you've provided expenses and benefits during the tax year, and one form P11D(b) to declare the overall amount of Class 1A NICs due on all the expenses and benefits you've provided.
All of these forms must be submitted to HM Revenue & Customs by 6 July.
This guidance outlines the different methods you can use to complete and file these three forms. It sets out the key information you need to provide on each of them. And it explains which employees to use a form P11D for and which to use a P9D for.
On this page:
- Deadlines at the end of the tax year
- Benefits of completing and filing your forms electronically
- Forms P11D and P9D - which to use
- Completing forms P11D and P9D
- Form P11D quality standard - avoid rejections and delays
- Completing form P11D(b)
- More useful links
Deadlines at the end of the tax year
Your forms P11D, P9D and P11D(b) must reach HMRC by 6 July following the end of the tax year.
Your payment of the Class 1A NICs declared on form P11D(b) must then reach HMRC by 22 July, or by 19 July if you pay by cheque.
Benefits of completing and filing your forms electronically
Using electronic methods to complete and file your expenses and benefits forms has a number of benefits:
- it's quick and convenient
- many calculations are completed automatically for you - for example, to work out the reportable value of a company car
- it reduces errors - you'll be alerted to any problems in your forms before you save or file them
Electronic methods for completing and filing your forms
There are three main electronic options for completing and filing your forms P11D, P9D and P11D(b):
- Commercial payroll software - many payroll software packages enable you to complete your expenses and benefits forms on your computer and then file them online to HMRC.
- The free 'Online Return and Forms - PAYE' service on the HMRC website - this allows you to complete and then file the forms online.
- The Employer CD-ROM. Using the 'Fill in forms (with save option)' facility on HMRC's CD-ROM allows you to complete the forms on your computer, but not to file online - you'll need to print the completed forms and send them to HMRC.
To file online using either commercial software or the 'Online Return and Forms - PAYE' service, you must register with PAYE Online up to a week in advance. Follow the link below for information on how to do this.
Get started with PAYE Online - including registration
More about the Employer CD-ROM
Completing and filing paper versions of your forms
You can also manually complete your expenses and benefits forms. Follow the links in the 'More useful links' section to download printable copies of the forms, or to order paper versions from HMRC.
Forms P11D and P9D - which to use
Many expenses and benefits must be reported to HMRC on forms P11D and P9D at the end of the tax year. (For details of the reporting requirements for specific expenses and benefits, follow the A to Z link at the end of this section.)
It's important to choose correctly between forms P11D and P9D for each employee. The form to use depends on the employee's earnings and on whether they're a director of your company, as explained below.
Employees earning £8,500 or more a year - form P11D
Use form P11D to report expenses and benefits provided to an employee earning at a rate of £8,500 or more per year. See below for what to include within the £8,500 threshold.
Employees earning less than £8,500 - form P9D
Use form P9D to report expenses and benefits provided to employees earning at a rate of less than £8,500 per year. See below for what to include within the £8,500 threshold.
What the £8,500 threshold includes
The £8,500 threshold doesn't only include wages or salary that you pay the employee. You must also include the value of the expenses and benefits they receive from you.
The £8,500 operates on a pro rata basis if the employee only works for part of the year. For example, if an employee only works for six months of the year then you'll need to use a form P11D if their earnings in that period are £4,250 or more.
Company directors - usually form P11D
Use form P11D for almost all company directors. Only use form P9D if all of the following apply:
- they earn at a rate of less than £8,500 per year
- they have no material interest in the company - see below for explanation
- they are either a full-time working director or a director of a charity or non-profit organisation
In broad terms, a director has a material interest in a company if (alone or together with associates) they own or can control more than five per cent of its ordinary share capital.
Completing forms P11D and P9D
When completing form P11D or form P9D, you must enter the total value of the expenses and benefits in various categories that you provided to your employee during the tax year.
For help with reporting specific expenses or benefits on forms P11D and P9D, follow the 'Expenses and benefits A to Z' link at the end of this section. The A to Z is organised by type of expense/benefit and tells you:
- whether you're required to report on P11D and P9D
- which section of the forms to use
- how to work out the reportable value of individual expenses/benefits
When completing form P11D (but not P9D) you must also report:
- any sums the employee has given you to make good the cost of expenses or benefits you've provided
- any tax you've deducted through your payroll on the value of the expenses or benefits
Download the 'P11D Guide' for more help completing the form (PDF 78K)
Form P11D quality standard - avoid rejections and delays
The errors listed below are a common cause of delay in our processing of forms P11D. Those covered by HMRC's P11D quality standard can cause particular problems - HMRC frequently has to reject and ask for resubmission of forms that contain these errors.
The P11D quality standard
The quality standard sets out the following requirements that every form P11D must meet:
- You must include your employer reference.
- You must include your employee's name and National Insurance number.
- If you don't know the employee's National Insurance number, you must provide their date of birth and gender.
- If you're reporting a car that you've provided to an employee, you must include its list price.
- If you complete box 10 in section F (total cash equivalent of car fuel provided), then you must also complete box 9 (total cash equivalent of cars provided).
- If you've provided a beneficial loan to an employee and are reporting it in section H, you must also complete box 15 (cash equivalent of loans).
If you submit your P11D information in list format rather than on standard forms, then the quality standard requires the following.
- You must present your list in an easy-to-read format using a font size no smaller than 11-point Arial.
- You must organise your list by employee, not by type of benefit
- You must include your employer reference.
- You must include your employee's name and National Insurance number.
- If you don't know the employee's National Insurance number, you must provide their date of birth and gender.
- You must include the full range of expenses and benefits contained on form P11D in your list - not just the ones you provided to the employee.
- Your list must also show the code letters assigned to each benefit on form P11D - these are the letters in the dark blue boxes at the left of each section of the form.
Other errors to watch out for
- Using a paper form that relates to the wrong tax year. Check the top right hand corner of the first page
- Not ticking the 'director' box if the employee is a director
- Not including descriptions if amounts are included in sections A, B, L, M or N of the form
- Leaving the 'cash equivalent' box empty if you've entered a figure in the corresponding 'cost' box of a section
- Sending P11Ds when you've also ticked the box in Part 5 of form P35 (in your Employer Annual Return) to indicate that P11Ds are not due
- Where a benefit has been provided for mixed business and private use, entering only the value of the private-use portion - you must report the full value of the benefit
Completing form P11D(b)
You must complete and file a form P11D(b) if either of the following applies:
- you have one or more P11Ds to submit to HMRC at the end of the tax year
- HMRC has sent a form P11D(b) to you - if this occurs and you have no P11Ds to submit, tick the box in section 2 that says no P11Ds are due for the year
However, you don't need to submit a form P11D(b) - even if HMRC has sent one to you - if you've already indicated in section 5 of form P35 (part of your PAYE Employer Annual Return) that forms P11D and P11D(b) are not due.
Information to provide on form P11D(b)
There are four key things that you must do on form P11D(b).
First, enter the total value of the expenses and benefits you provided during the tax year that were liable to Class 1A NICs.
- This total is calculated using the figures you've entered in your forms P11D.
- If you're completing your forms using the electronic methods described in the earlier section 'Benefits of completing and filing your forms electronically', then this P11D(b) total will usually be calculated automatically from your P11Ds.
- If you're completing your forms manually, the P11D boxes for items liable to Class 1A NICs are brown rather than blue.
Second, make any necessary adjustments to this total. This will apply if your total:
- includes items that aren't liable to Class 1A NICs (for example, because your total includes P11D entries for an employee for whom no NICs are due - such as certain employees who work abroad)
- omits items that are liable to Class 1A NICs
Third, work out your Class 1A NICs liability for the year. This is calculated as 12.8 per cent of the (adjusted) total value of your expenses and benefits from the first two steps above.
Fourth, declare which of the following applies to you:
- during the tax year you didn't provide any expenses and benefits that must be reported on form P11D
- you did provide P11D expenses and benefits and you're submitting your forms P11D at the same time as your P11D(b)
- you did provide P11D expenses and benefits and you have already filed your forms P11D
