In this section:
This guide provides an overview of the deadlines for paying:
It also tells you about late payment interest and penalties charged by HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) for paying late and how to avoid these.
We recommend that you make all of your PAYE, NICs and PSA payments electronically. HMRC counts all of the payment methods below as electronic apart from payment by post.
Paying electronically is fast, secure and convenient provided you give us an accurate reference number.
It is mandatory for employers with 250 or more employees to make their payments electronically, however we recommend that all employers pay this way.
It is your responsibility to ensure that payments are made on time, whichever payment method you use. Remember, you may be charged interest and a penalty if your payment is not received by the deadline.
On this page:
We strongly recommend that you use one of the following electronic payment methods:
You can find out more about these and other payment methods by reading the guidance below.
How to pay PAYE / Class 1 National Insurance
How to pay Class 1A National Insurance
How to pay PAYE Settlement Agreement payments
Payment is due on the 22nd of the month following the end of the tax month or quarter to which it relates. You should make sure you initiate your electronic payment early enough for cleared funds to reach HMRC by the due date.
Where the 22nd falls on a weekend or bank holiday, ensure your payment arrives no later than the last bank working day before the 22nd, unless paying by Faster Payment. It is important that you check with your bank/building society well in advance of making a payment to check single transaction, daily value limits and cut off times for processing payments to avoid your payment to HMRC being delayed.
HMRC accepts payments made using the Faster Payment Service (FPS).
FPS is a service that has been introduced by the banking industry that
allows payments by internet or telephone banking to be received on the
same or next day,
provided the value of the payment does not exceed the limit set by your own bank or building society.
FPS does not operate on 25 December and 1 January.
Before making a payment using FPS you should contact your bank or building society to confirm the services available to you, any daily value limits and the latest cut off times for sending a payment.
More about the Faster Payment Service
If paying by post, your cheque payment must be posted early enough to reach HMRC no later than the 19th of the month following the end of the tax month or quarter to which it relates, so please allow at least three working days. Obviously postal delays are out of your and HMRC's hands which is why HMRC recommends the security and certainty of electronic payments.
| Month or quarter ended | Month or Quarter number | HMRC has to receive cleared electronic funds by * | HMRC has to receive cheques by |
|---|---|---|---|
| 5 May | M01 | 22 May | 19 May |
| 5 Jun | M02 | 22 Jun | 19 Jun |
| 5 Jul | M03 / Q1 | 22 Jul | 19 Jul |
| 5 Aug | M04 | 22 Aug | 19 Aug |
| 5 Sep | M05 | 22 Sep | 19 Sep |
| 5 Oct | M06 / Q2 | 22 Oct | 19 Oct |
| 5 Nov | M07 | 22 Nov | 19 Nov |
| 5 Dec | M08 | 22 Dec | 19 Dec |
| 5 Jan | M09 / Q3 | 22 Jan | 19 Jan |
| 5 Feb | M10 | 22 Feb | 19 Feb |
| 5 Mar | M11 | 22 Mar | 19 Mar |
| 5 Apr | M12 / Q4 | 22 Apr | 19 Apr |
* If the due date falls on a weekend or bank holiday, then your payment must reach HMRC by the previous bank working day (Monday to Friday), unless you make payment using the Faster Payment Service.
If your payment arrives late you may be liable for a late payment penalty.
To create a calendar of key tax deadlines and to sign up to receive regular email alerts to remind you of these, helping you to pay on time, visit the Business Link website.
Create a calendar of key tax deadlines on the Business Link website (Opens new window)
| Payment method | Deadline |
|---|---|
| Electronic (All methods except payment by post) |
22 July Cleared payment must reach our account no later than this date |
| By post | 19 July Cheque must reach our Accounts Office no later than this date |
Payment method |
Deadline |
|---|---|
Electronic |
22 October |
By post |
19 October |
The tables below provide guidance to help you decide when to initiate your PAYE/NICs/Class 1A NIC/PSA payments in order to avoid missing the deadlines. However please note:
22nd falls on a |
We must have cleared funds by |
Last day for setting up a new Direct Debit Instruction (DDI) and payment |
Last day for setting up a Direct Debit payment if using an existing DDI |
|---|---|---|---|
Monday |
Monday 22nd |
Monday 15th |
Wednesday 17th |
Tuesday |
Tuesday 22nd |
Tuesday 15th |
Thursday 17th |
Wednesday |
Wednesday 22nd |
Wednesday 15th |
Friday 17th |
Thursday |
Thursday 22nd |
Thursday 15th |
Monday 19th |
Friday |
Friday 22nd |
Sunday 17th |
Tuesday 19th |
Saturday |
Friday 21st |
Sunday 16th |
Tuesday 18th |
Sunday |
Friday 20th |
Sunday 15th |
Tuesday 17th |
22nd falls on a |
We must have cleared funds by |
Last day for initiating payment by * |
|---|---|---|
Monday |
Monday 22nd |
Monday 22nd |
Tuesday |
Tuesday 22nd |
Tuesday 22nd |
Wednesday |
Wednesday 22nd |
Wednesday 22nd |
Thursday |
Thursday 22nd |
Thursday 22nd |
| Friday | Friday 22nd | Friday 22nd |
| Saturday | Saturday 22nd | Saturday 22nd |
| Sunday | Sunday 22nd | Sunday 22nd |
FPS is a service that has been introduced by the banking industry that allows payments by internet or telephone banking to be received on the same day, provided the value of the payment does not exceed the limit set by your own bank or building society.
FPS does not operate on 25 December or 1 January.
* Before making a payment using FPS you should contact your bank or building society to confirm the services available to you, any daily value limits and latest cut off times for sending a payment.
22nd falls on a |
We must have cleared funds by * |
Last day for initiating payment by * |
|---|---|---|
Monday |
Monday 22nd |
Thursday 18th |
Tuesday |
Tuesday 22nd |
Friday 18th |
Wednesday |
Wednesday 22nd |
Monday 20th |
Thursday |
Thursday 22nd |
Tuesday 20th |
Friday |
Friday 22nd |
Wednesday 20th |
Saturday |
Friday 21st |
Wednesday 19th |
Sunday |
Friday 20th |
Wednesday 18th |
22nd falls on a |
We must have cleared funds by |
Last day for initiating payment by |
|---|---|---|
Monday |
Monday 22nd |
Monday 22nd |
Tuesday |
Tuesday 22nd |
Tuesday 22nd |
Wednesday |
Wednesday 22nd |
Wednesday 22nd |
Thursday |
Thursday 22nd |
Thursday 22nd |
Friday |
Friday 22nd |
Friday 22nd |
Saturday |
Friday 21st |
Friday 21st |
Sunday |
Friday 20th |
Friday 20th |
If paying by post, your cheque payment must be posted early enough to reach HMRC no later than the 19th of the month. To allow for possible postal delays, for which we are not responsible, please allow at least three working days for the payment to reach us.
For interest and penalty purposes we will treat your payment as being received on the day we receive your cheque. Where we receive it on a day that the office is closed the date used will be the day the office was first closed.
For example, when we receive a cheque on a Monday we will treat it as having been received on the Saturday before.
We charge daily interest on late payments of PAYE/NICs by taking the number of days by which a payment is late and applying the relevant HMRC late payment interest rate. We make the charge after the end of the tax year once we have all the end of year returns.
Check current and historic HMRC interest rates on late payments
We charge penalties on PAYE payments paid late. PAYE includes income tax, NICs, construction industry scheme and student loan deductions. This means you may have to pay a late payment penalty if you do not pay the PAYE due each month, quarter or annually, on time and in full. There will also be late payment penalties for not paying other amounts due annually - including Class 1A NICs and PSA amounts - on time and in full.
PAYE/National Insurance late payment penalties
Problems paying HMRC: advice for businesses, individuals and tax agents
Follow the link below to the Business Link website where you can create a calendar of your key tax deadlines for the next 12 months, reminding you when you need to pay and file your returns. You can also sign up to receive regular email alerts as each date approaches.
Create a calendar of PAYE deadlines on the Business Link website (Opens new window)
If you don't let HMRC know you have no PAYE/NICs payment to make HMRC may contact you asking for payment.
Therefore you should let HMRC know if you have no PAYE/NICs payment to make for a tax month or quarter.
The best way to do this is by completing the online form which you can use for a previous, current or future month/quarter where no payment is due.
To use this service you'll need to enter your Accounts Office reference - made up of 13 characters. For example: 123PA00045678 - you can find this on the front of your payment booklet or the letter HMRC issued in place of a booklet.
Notify HMRC online that no PAYE/NIC payment is due
Other ways you can let HMRC know are by:
Find contact details for HMRC's Payment enquiry helpline
HMRC can arrange quarterly or even annual payment options, depending on your circumstances.
Employers with estimated monthly payments to make of less than £1,500 can ask HMRC to pay quarterly.
Or, if all payments on which tax and NICs are due are paid to your employees annually in a single tax month, you can ask HMRC to be treated as an 'annual payer'. You must use the same month every year, so if this changes or you start paying your employees more frequently, you will need to tell HMRC.
Both these options mean you are not contacted unnecessarily before the payment becomes due and that you don't need to report NIL payments for the months in which you have nothing to pay.
If you think either of these payment options might apply to your circumstances, contact HMRC's Payment enquiry helpline and have your Accounts Office reference number to hand.
Find contact details for HMRC's Payment enquiry helpline
Follow the links at the end of this section to find out what to do if you think you'll have a problem meeting a payment deadline, or to ask a question about end of year PAYE. You'll normally receive a response to an email query within two working days.
Guidance on what to do if you have a problem making a PAYE payment
End-of-year PAYE queries - send an email
As an employer you are required to keep PAYE records, including records of the payments you have made to HMRC, for the current and previous three tax years. You should therefore be able to reconcile payments you've made using your own records.
You can now view details of payments you have made and amounts that you owe using:
Viewing your PAYE payments and liabilities online
Using Business Tax Dashboard as an employer
If you are still unable to reconcile your payments, you can contact HMRC's Payment enquiry helpline to confirm the amounts, allocation and dates of the last three payments made during the current tax year. You'll find a link to contact details for the helpline at the end of this section.
Find contact details for HMRC's Payment enquiry helpline
If you need to reconcile more than the last three payments, you will need to write to HMRC providing:
HMRC will check these details against their records and either confirm that they are correct or advise where any differences exist. You should write to:
HMRC
St Mungo's Road
Cumbernauld
Glasgow
G70 5TR
Alternatively, if you are classed by HMRC as a 'Large Business' and have already had contact with your assigned Customer Relationship Manager, you can approach them with any concerns over reconciling PAYE payments.
