Nothing is certain but death and taxes, so they say, and if you cross the tax man, people who’ve experienced it say they’d almost prefer the first certainty. By keeping good records, which the employee and HMRC can both understand, then you are unlikely to have a fate worse than death.
All you have to do is follow the rules.
##With payroll there are three easy steps to avoid being pursued.
1. *Keep Records*
+ As soon as an employee joins the company, you should set up an employee record. This should include name, date of birth, National Insurance Number, Tax Code, address and their Student Loan number. They should produce a P45 or sign a P46 form. For your records you’ll need to allocate them a payroll number too. These records may be inspected by the tax man so be careful to get it right.
2. *Payslips*
+ When you pay the employee you must show them on their payslip a number of details. This will include their gross pay, National Insurance Contributions, tax deducted and any student loan repayment or pension deductions, and finally any taxable benefits or expenses.
3. *Pay Day*
+ On or before pay day you have to tell the HMRC what you are paying your employee, and whether you are paying a reduced rate to the tax man for a legitimate reason. This is called Real Time Information.
##Proper Preparation Prevents…
By staying on top of things and meeting the deadlines every month there should be nothing to worry about. Or, you may get a phone call and an interview as the HMRC try to decide whether you are genuinely disorganised or trying to avoid paying tax. Come to us and we’ll help you sort your payroll out so you won’t have the stress and worry of the tax man on pay day.
