How to register for PAYE Online
Using our online service is a convenient, efficient and reliable way of taking care of many of your PAYE (Pay As You Earn) tasks. This guide sets out how to get started with the PAYE online service, explaining how the registration and activation processes work.
On this page:
- Information you need to register
- Give yourself at least a week
- How the registration process works
- Activating the PAYE online service
- If you’ve already used another online service as an organisation
- What happens after activation?
- Dealing with lost PINS, passwords and ID numbers
- More useful links
Information you need to register
When going through the registration process, we'll ask you for these two pieces of information, so make sure you have them to hand before starting:
- your Employer PAYE reference
- your Accounts Office reference
Both of these reference numbers can be found on your yellow PAYE payslip booklet (P30BC), or on the electronic PAYE reminders we send you each year.
Give yourself at least a week
Going through the online registration process only takes a matter of minutes. But before you can start using the service, you'll need to wait for an Activation PIN that we'll send you by post (you may also see this referred to as an ‘Activation code’ on the Government Gateway website). This will arrive within seven days of your registration.
So don't leave registration until the last minute before a filing deadline.
Bear in mind also that your Activation PIN is only valid for 28 days. If you don't activate the service within that period, you'll have to request a new PIN and wait for it to arrive by post from us.
How the registration process works
The following are the main stages in the registration process:
- go to the online services homepage and click on the 'Register' button
- click on 'Organisation', and select 'PAYE for Employers' on the next page
- read and accept the terms and conditions of our online services
- enter your name and email address
- create a password, making sure to keep it as you'll need it to use the service
- you'll be given a User ID - keep it as you'll need it to use the service
- enter your Employer PAYE reference and Accounts Office reference
And that's it. Now you must wait for two letters in the post from us. The first will include your User ID, and the second will contain the Activation PIN you need to access the service for the first time
View an online demonstration of the registration process
Activating the PAYE online service
To log on to the PAYE online service, you simply enter your User ID and password.
The first time you log in you will also be asked to type in the Activation PIN that we posted to you. This must be done within 28 days of the letter containing the Activation PIN, or you’ll have to request a new PIN from us.
If you’ve already used another online service as an organisation
In this case follow the link below and log in using your existing User ID and password, then follow the on-screen instructions to enrol for PAYE. You'll receive an Activation PIN in the post within seven working days. To activate the service, follow the instructions in the previous section, ‘Activating the PAYE online service’.
What happens after activation?
Once you have activated the PAYE online service, you will be able to use it to complete some of your key PAYE tasks, such as filing your Employer Annual Return.
Once you activate the service we will automatically start using it to send you all the PAYE notices and reminders that apply to you. You can request that we resume sending paper versions of most of these, but form P35N and all reminders relating to your Employer Annual Return will continue to be sent online.
An overview of the PAYE online service
Dealing with lost PINs, passwords and ID numbers
You'll find links on the online services homepage to step-by-step information explaining what to do if you lose any of these key pieces of information. Here is a summary:
- If your Activation PIN expires, login using your User ID and password, provide the information requested, and we'll send you a new PIN
- If you lose you Activation PIN within its 28 day validity, login using your User ID and password, click on 'Activate', and then click on 'Request a new PIN'
- If you lose your User ID, we'll tell you it if you confirm your identity (by entering your email address, password, PAYE reference and Accounts Office reference). If you want to be informed of your user ID by email, you’ll also have to provide your email address - otherwise it will be sent by post.
- If you lose your password, HMRC can reset it and provide a replacement, You will have to confirm your identity by entering your email address, User ID, PAYE reference and Accounts Office reference. If you provide the email address you used when you first registered to use online services, HMRC can provide the replacement password by email - otherwise it will be sent by post.
- If you lose both your User ID and password, you must contact our Online Services Helpdesk. You can email helpdesk@ir-efile.gov.uk or contact Tel 0845 605 5999 (from 8:00 am to 8:00 pm, seven days a week)
More useful links
Go to our online services homepage
Telephone and face-to-face help with online filing
