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The P11 Calculator in the HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) Basic PAYE Tools package is a free tool you can use to keep your employees' payroll records in an electronic format. It works out the tax and National Insurance contributions (NICs) for your employees in each pay period and smaller employers - those with up to and including nine employees at the end of the tax year - can use it to file their Employer Annual Return (form P35 and forms P14) online. You can also use it to file your in-year starter and leaver forms (P45s and P46s) online.
This guide tells you where to get the free P11 Calculator, how to install it on your computer and how to start using it. To read about the P11 Calculator's key features and benefits read our guide 'Using commercial payroll software or HMRC's downloadable P11 Calculator' - see 'More useful links'.
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The P11 Calculator is currently only available in the Basic PAYE Tools package.
To use the P11 Calculator, you'll need to download the Basic PAYE Tools onto your computer. Once you've installed the tools and your computer is linked to the internet, you will be advised when updates are available. HMRC recommends that you make sure you have selected the 'Automatic update' option - find out by selecting 'Options' on the top of the tools homepage. You will be notified automatically if there are any updates available for you to download. This means you will not miss important changes that may affect your employees. If you have automatic updates switched off, you can still check for updates manually - select 'Options' then 'Automatic Update Settings' then 'Check for Updates now'.
You can access the P11 Calculator by selecting 'Calculators' from the menu on the home page of the PAYE Tools, and then selecting 'P11 Calculator' from the pop-up menu. This will take you to the P11 Calculator home page. From here you can choose from the following options:
The P11 Calculator uses employee information held in an employer database. To set this up select the 'Employer database' option from the P11 Calculator home page and follow the on-screen instructions.
To set up the employer section you'll need the following information:
To set up the employee section you'll need the following:
Taking care to make sure you send HMRC the correct information about your employees will save you time by reducing the number of employee queries you get, as well as helping to make sure that your employees pay the correct tax and NICs.
Over 80 per cent of problems are caused because the wrong information is held about an employee's name, date of birth or National Insurance number.
Name - Make sure that you use the full name and not just the initial(s). Make sure that the forename(s) and surname are correctly spelled and that they are in the right order.
Date of birth - Always use the correct date of birth. Do not enter a default date or make one up.
National Insurance number - Always use the correct National Insurance number. Do not make a number up or use someone else's.
Wherever possible, check the information with a trusted official source such as a birth certificate or passport
Once you've added all your employees, you're ready to use the P11 Calculator.
To work out the deductions for an employee, select their name from the list in the P11 Calculator and then enter their:
If you've received a P6 giving you a new tax code for an employee, you'll also need to enter the revised code into the calculator.
Once you've completed your entries you'll be able to review them on the confirmation screen. You must save them to be able to use them in the P11 Calculator. It will then use this information to work out the tax and NICs that you need to deduct from your employee's pay and it will fill in the entries in their P11.
You can use the statutory pay calculators within the Basic PAYE Tools package to work out any statutory pay amounts.
Bear in mind that gross pay for tax purposes won't necessarily be the same as earnings for NICs purposes. Refer to HMRC's publication CWG2, 'Employer Further Guide to PAYE and NICs' if you're unsure.
Read CWG2 'Employer Further Guide to PAYE and NICs'
Each time you pay an employee during the tax year the P11 Calculator will work out the entries for their P11 and update the form for you. You can view any employee's P11 Summary at any time.
If you use the P11 Calculator to work out and record your wages, HMRC recommends that you save the data regularly and back it up after each pay period - for example, to a CD-ROM, USB memory stick or a network drive.
You can file your Employer Annual Return (P35 and P14s) online direct from the Basic PAYE Tools if both of the following apply:
This ability to file seamlessly online is a significant advantage of the P11 Calculator over paper-based payroll records because almost all employers are required to file their Employer Annual Return online.
If you have more than nine employees, you can still use the figures from your P11 Calculator records to file your return using a different online method, such as commercial payroll software (some of which is free) or the free 'Online Return and Forms - PAYE' service on the HMRC website.
You can also use the P11 Calculator to file your in-year starter and leaver forms (P45s and P46s) online.
Improving the operation of PAYE: Real Time Information (RTI)
Using commercial payroll software or HMRC's Basic PAYE Tools P11 Calculator
