Guidance

How to use Basic PAYE Tools

Updated 14 May 2025

Introduction

Basic PAYE Tools can be used by employers with fewer than 10 employees.

The tools are not suitable for agents and bookkeepers as data cannot be copied for a single payroll in the tool. This may not allow you to protect data properly and comply with the Data Protection Act and General Data Protection Regulations.

If you’re an employer you can use Basic PAYE Tools to report your payroll information to HMRC by sending a Full Payment Submission, which tells HMRC the amount of tax and National Insurance contributions that you’ve deducted from your employees’ pay. This is the amount you must pay HMRC on the normal monthly due date. Find out more about paying employers’ PAYE.

You can also use Basic PAYE Tools to create and send an Employer Payment Summary if:

• no payments to employees are made within a pay period
• you want to recover statutory payments
• the company has suffered Construction Industry Scheme deductions (this only applies to limited companies)
• there’s a claim for Employment Allowance or you want to withdraw your claim
• you want to calculate the amount of Apprenticeship Levy due

If you want to check that the National Insurance number provided by your employee is correct, or find out your employee’s number, you can send a National Insurance Number Verification Request.

The tools do not:

• support auto-enrolment in a pension
• calculate the pension contributions you and your employees need to make
• check if your employees are eligible for a pension
• supply information to your pension provider

You have a legal responsibility to provide a workplace pension for certain employees. Learn more about setting up and managing a workplace pension scheme.

Before you start

Before using this guide you must do all the following:

• register as an employer with HMRC
• enrol for PAYE Online for employers
• download Basic PAYE Tools
• install Basic PAYE Tools and add employer details

Check you are using the latest version of the tools by selecting:

• Settings on the tool
• Update from the menu
• the ‘Check now’ button

The default for automatic updates is ‘Yes’ when you first install Basic PAYE Tools. This setting will mean that you always get the latest updates.

If you’re having issues downloading or opening Basic PAYE Tools, check the service availability and issues for what to do.

If you use the Welsh version of Basic PAYE Tools

You need to set up the Welsh version the first time you open the tool. You only need to do this once to update the language settings.

On your computer’s desktop, find Basic PAYE Tool’s crown logo and follow the steps to set up the Welsh version.

1. Right-click the logo.
2. Select ‘Language’.
3. Select ‘Welsh’.
4. Close and reopen Basic PAYE Tools to view the Welsh version.

If you use the accessible version of Basic PAYE Tools

You need to set up the accessible version the first time you open the tool.

If you use Windows

After installing the tool, follow the steps to open the accessible version of the tool in Windows.

1. Select the Start Menu icon.
2. Select Basic PAYE Tools — Assistive Mode, or All and then Basic PAYE Tools — Assistive Mode.

Basic PAYE Tools will open in assistive mode on your browser.

You will need to follow these steps every time you open the tool.

If you use a Mac

After installing the tool, follow the steps to set up the accessible version of the tool in Mac.

1. Open Basic PAYE Tools from your computer’s desktop shortcut or alias.
2. Close Basic PAYE Tools.
3. Select Go from the desktop or a Finder window.
4. Select Home.
5. Open the ‘HMRC’ folder.
6. Open the ‘payetools-rti’ folder.
7. Right-click the file ‘bptshell-settings.ini’.
8. Select Open With followed by Textedit
9. Enter [General] at the end of the file.
10. Enter mode=assistive on the next line.
11. Save the file.
12. Open Basic PAYE Tools from your computer’s desktop shortcut or alias.

Basic PAYE Tools will open in assistive mode on your browser.

You only need to do this once to update the accessibility settings.

Use your desktop shortcut or alias when you open Basic PAYE Tools to keep these settings.

If you use Linux

1. Open Basic PAYE Tools from your computer’s desktop shortcut.
2. Close Basic PAYE Tools.
3. Select the ‘Home’ folder in the ‘Files’ app.
4. Open the ‘HMRC’ folder.
5. Open the ‘payetools-rti’ folder.
6. Right-click the file ‘bptshell-settings.ini’.
7. Select Open With Text Editor
8. Enter [General] at the end of the file.
9. Enter mode=assistive on the next line.
10. Save the file.
11. Open Basic PAYE Tools from your computer’s desktop shortcut.

Basic PAYE Tools will open in assistive mode on your browser.

You only need to do this once to update the accessibility settings.

Use your desktop shortcut when you open Basic PAYE Tools to keep these settings.

Add or update employee details

You can add employees to your payroll and update their details using Basic PAYE Tools.

Add an employee

You can add details for up to 9 employees.

1. Select an employer’s name from the list on the homepage to go to the ‘Employer details’ page.
2. Select Manage employees from the menu.
3. Select Add an employee from the menu on the ‘Manage employees’ page.
4. Select New and current for most employees.
5. Fill in their personal details, including name, address, gender, date of birth, National Insurance number (if known) and passport number (if known).
6. Enter their payroll ID if you have set one up, to avoid creating a duplicate employment record for this employee. HMRC will use it on any correspondence with you about that employee. If you re-employ someone in the same tax year do not use their previous payroll ID.
7. Select the normal weekly hours worked.
8. If the employee is a company director, enter the date of appointment. Select the ‘Directors’ cumulative method’ of National Insurance calculation if they will reach State Pension age during the selected tax year. You can check when an individual will reach State Pension age.
9. Enter the date on which your employee started working for you.
10. Select the basis for setting up the employee — a new starter with or without a P45, a new starter receiving an occupational pension, a new starter seconded to work in the UK, or an existing employee. The option selected will bring up related questions.
11. Fill in payment details, including how often you pay your employee, the tax code, National Insurance category letter (for existing employees this will be on your payroll records), whether student or postgraduate loan deductions apply (the student plan type will be on the letter that HMRC sent you). Only change an employee’s tax code if HMRC tells you to.
12. Select Next to finish adding an employee.

You can pay a third party on behalf of or instead of an employee.

1. Select Add an employee from the menu on the ‘Manage employees’ page.
2. Select Non-individual and follow the steps to add a non-individual employee.

You can also pay an employee with a trivial commutation payment (when an employee withdraws all their pension as a one-off lump sum).

1. Select Add an employee from the menu on the ‘Manage employees’ page.
2. Select Trivial commutation payment.
3. Enter the employee’s personal details.
4. Select the relevant option and follow the steps to add a trivial commutations employee.

The options for a trivial commutation payment are a:

• trivial commutation lump sum — up to £30,000
• small pot lump sum from personal pension scheme — up to 3 small pension funds of £10,000 or less to be paid out as a lump sum
• small pot lump sum from occupational pension scheme — any number of lump sums to be paid out up to £10,000 each

View or update employee details

The ‘Employee details’ page allows you to:

• fill in leaving details for an employee or view details of an employee who has left, using the ‘Leaver summary’ link
• view any submissions which have successfully been sent to HMRC, using the Employee submission history’ link
• fill in forms that an employer may need to complete which relate to this employee, using the ‘Employee forms’ link
• change employee details, using the ‘Change employee details’ link

1. Select an employer’s name from the list on the homepage to go to the ‘Employer details’ page.
2. Select Manage employees from the menu.
3. Select the relevant employee from the list to update their details.

Calculate statutory payments

Before adding pay details, you need to calculate any statutory payments including:

• Statutory Sick Pay (SSP)
• Statutory Maternity Pay (SMP)
• Statutory Paternity Pay (SPP)
• Shared Parental Pay (ShPP)
• Statutory Adoption Pay (SAP)
• Statutory Parental Bereavement Pay (SPBP)
• Statutory Neonatal Care Pay (SNCP)

If you pay an employee Statutory Sick Pay you need to record:

• how long your employee is off sick when it is more than 3 days in a row — known as ‘period of incapacity for work’
• how much Statutory Sick Pay you paid
• the dates when you did not pay Statutory Sick Pay
• why you did not pay Statutory Sick Pay on these dates

You should also keep records of supporting medical evidence.

You can calculate or view details of an employee’s sickness and Statutory Sick Pay.

1. Select Manage employees from the menu on the ‘Employer details’ page.
2. Select an employee from the list to go to the ‘Employee details’ page.
3. Select Statutory Sick Pay record (SSP2) from the menu and follow the instructions displayed.

For all other statutory payments, select Calculators and select the relevant calculator to work out the amounts. This section also contains statutory payment forms.

Make a note of the calculation results. You will need these figures to:

• make employee payments
• work out whether you can recover any amounts paid and claim compensation

You will normally recover statutory payments by withholding the amount of the statutory payment you make from your tax, National Insurance contributions and Construction Industry Scheme deductions from subcontractors you are due to pay.

If you do not have enough deductions to pay or recover the statutory payment, you may be eligible to apply for financial help for an employee tax refund.

Add employee payments

Add all your employees to Basic PAYE Tools before you fill in payment details for any of your employees.

When you enter an employee’s pay, Basic PAYE Tools will:

• work out the employee’s tax, National Insurance contributions and student or postgraduate loan deductions
• record these details on the ‘Employee pay and deductions record’ for that employee
• hold the amount of these deductions for the ‘Employer Payment Record’ so that you know the amount due to HMRC each month

You can enter an employee’s pay and calculate deductions on the ‘Add employee payment’ page.

1. Select the correct employer from the list on the homepage to go to the ‘Employer details’ page.
2. Select the correct tax year.
3. Select Manage employees from the menu.
4. Select the relevant employee from the ‘Current employees’ list.
5. Select Employee payments from the menu.
6. Select Add employee payment from the menu.
7. Read the guidance on the page.

Add the payment date

Enter the date on which payment will be made, and the amount of pay.

The date must be:

• in the current tax year
• after the last payment date entered for this employee
• the date you pay the employee, not the date you run your payroll

Use the normal payday even if it falls on a non-banking day.

Statutory payments

Enter the statutory payments that you have calculated.

Add expenses and benefits in kind 

You must register through the payrolling benefits and expenses online service before 6 April of the tax year in which you want to payroll such benefits.

Enter the benefits in kind subject to:

• PAYE tax
• Class 1 National Insurance contributions

If you payroll car and car fuel benefits, you must also add details of the car in the ‘Payrolled Benefits in Kind car details’ section on the ‘Employee details’ page.

After registration, you will no longer need to complete P11Ds for eligible expenses and benefits as these will now be included in your normal payroll processes. You will still need to :

• follow the usual P11D processes for any expenses and benefits you do not payroll
• report the Class 1A National Insurance you owe by submitting an online form called a P11D(b) at the end of the tax year

Find out more about reporting and paying expenses and benefits.

Add pension contributions

Ask your pension provider:

• how much your pension contributions should be
• when you should pay them
• whether contributions are paid from gross pay (also known as a ‘net pay arrangement’) or net pay (also known as a ‘relief at source arrangement’)

Enter the amount of pension contributions in the relevant box.

Add payments not subject to tax or National Insurance contributions

Enter payments made to your employee that are not:

• salary or wages
• subject to income tax or National Insurance contributions

Find details of whether a payment is either taxable or subject to National Insurance contributions in the ‘Pay, expenses and benefits’ section of the employer guide.

Examples of amounts to be reported include:

• season ticket loan advances
• certain travel and subsistence costs
• car parking fees for business related journeys
• dividends from shares

Add real time Class 1A National Insurance contributions on termination awards and sporting testimonials

You must report, in real time, Class 1A National Insurance contributions payable on the amount of a:

• termination award over £30,000
• non-contractual or non-customary sporting testimonial payment over £100,000

Add off-payroll working information

If off-payroll working rules apply to an employee, select the box in the section about off-payroll workers.

Add payslip details

Use the ‘Payslip details’ boxes to:

• add relevant notes regarding payrolled expenses and benefits
• clarify how net pay will differ from pay automatically generated on the payslip
• add hours worked

If you are payrolling benefits in kind (such as cars) the net pay shown is not the amount of take-home pay, as benefits in kind are added to gross pay for tax purposes. You will need to add this information in the ‘Additional information’ box.

Add late submission information

If a submission is late, tick the late submission box and select the reason for the delay. This reason will be considered before charging penalties to your account for not reporting payroll information on time.

Check and save payments

You need to check the payments you have entered before you save them.

1. After adding all payments on the ‘Add employee payment’ page, select Next to go to the ‘Review employee payment details’ page. It shows the amounts you have entered so that you can check them.
2. If the amounts are correct, select Next. This will take you back to the updated ‘Employee payments’ page.
3. Select View to view details of your employee payments.
4. Select the cross on the tab to close the ‘Details of employee payment’ page.

Repeat the ‘Add employee payments’ process for other employees.

View and update employee payments

The ‘Employee details’ page allows you to:

• change or view details of an employee’s pay using the ‘Employee payments’ link
• view how much the employee has been paid to date along with the deductions, using the ‘Employee year to date summary’ link

Create payslips

You can create payslips for your employees.

1. Select an employee on the ‘Manage employees’ page.
2. Select ‘Employee payments’ from the menu.
3. Select Payslip on the ‘Employee payments’ page to view the payslip.
4. Save the payslip as a PDF on your computer.

Before emailing payslips, you must get your employees’ agreement to do so.

You can email the PDF as an attachment, or print it from the saved location on your computer.

Send the payroll details to HMRC

You need to send the payroll details to HMRC with a Full Payment Submission on or before the date you pay your employees, to avoid any penalties. You’ll need to do this:

• every time you pay staff
• for every member of staff that you pay

This tells HMRC the amount of tax and National Insurance contributions that you:

• have deducted from your employee’s pay
• will need to pay in full on the normal monthly due date

Check your details and send your payroll details to HMRC.

1. Check that you have added all the employees to be paid by selecting the ‘Outstanding submissions’ link on the ‘Employee payments’ page. This will take you to the ‘Outstanding submission details’ page.
2. Select Send all outstanding submissions.
3. Select Next to go to the ‘Submission authentication’ page.
4. Enter your Government Gateway user ID and password.
5. Select Next to go to the ‘Submission status’ page, followed by the ‘Submission results’ page.

If your submission fails at this stage, delete it and submit a correction.

If you cannot submit a correction, contact our technical support helpline.

The ‘Employer details’ page has menu links to view:

• on hold submissions — submissions already sent and waiting for a message from HMRC about success or failure
• successful submissions
• failed submissions
• expired submissions — submissions already sent that could not get a message from HMRC about success or failure

Correcting or changing payments

You can change details of an employee’s pay and deductions for a year that has closed, for the tax year 2020 to 2021 and later.

1. Select the relevant year on the ‘Employer details’ page.
2. Select Manage employees from the menu.
3. Select the relevant employee from the list. This will take you to the ‘Employee details’ page.
4. Select the relevant tax month for the employee payment to be changed from the menu.
5. Select Change for the relevant payment.
6. Enter the correct details to generate a revised month 12 Full Payment Submission showing the corrected year to date figures for that employee.
7. Submit the revised Full Payment Submission.

If you need to change details for the tax year 2019 to 2020 and earlier, send either an:

• Earlier Year Update
• Earlier Year Update using Basic PAYE Tools with other software

Reduce the amount due to HMRC

You can reduce the amount due to HMRC if you are able to recover any statutory payments or other amounts, by sending an Employer Payment Summary.

Calculate how much to pay HMRC each month

After you pay employees for a tax month (from the sixth of one month to the fifth of the following month) and send a Full Payment Submission, you need to calculate your payment to HMRC.

You must pay HMRC the full amount of the deductions (tax, National Insurance contributions and student or postgraduate loan deductions) shown on the Full Payment Submission, minus any adjustments claimed on the Employer Payment Summary.

Before the 19th of the next tax month, you need to:

• calculate and enter any recoverable amounts
• calculate the amount due to HMRC
• send an Employer Payment Summary if you have any recoverable amounts

You must report payroll data on or before each payday even if you pay HMRC at different times.

Employers who pay HMRC quarterly must still send:

• a Full Payment Submission each time you pay your employees
• an Employer Payment Summary if no payment is made to all employees in a whole tax month

The ‘Employer details’ page has links to:

• add or view the date this PAYE scheme ended, by selecting PAYE scheme ceased
• add or view funding received from HMRC, by selecting Record of funding

Calculate and enter recoverable amounts

You may be able to reduce the amount payable to HMRC relating to:

• statutory payments made (with the exception of Statutory Sick Pay)
• compensation due on statutory payments made
• Construction Industry Scheme deductions taken from your payments as a subcontractor if your business is a limited company

If you paid any statutory payments to staff during the tax month, use the appropriate calculator from the ‘Calculators’ link on any page to work out:

• how much of that statutory payment you can recover
• the amount of any compensation

1. Make a note of the amounts.
2. On the homepage select the employer from the ‘Employer list’ to go to the ‘Employer details’ page.
3. Select Employer Payment Summary and recoverable amounts from the menu.
4. Select Add a recoverable amount from the menu.
5. Enter the ‘recovery date’. This should be the last day in the tax month when wages were paid.
6. Fill in the fields as appropriate, leaving them blank if the amount is zero. If you are claiming Construction Industry Scheme deductions, only make an entry if your business is a limited company that operates in the construction industry and has suffered deductions under the Construction Industry Scheme. Do not include deductions from payments made to subcontractors who have undertaken work for your company.
7. Select Next to go back to the updated ‘Employer Payment Summary and recoverable amounts’ page. The ‘Outstanding submissions’ link on the menu will show an updated number to show that an Employer Payment Summary has been created.

Calculate the amount due to HMRC

1. On the ‘Employer Payment Summary and recoverable amounts’ page, select Calculate amount due to HMRC from the menu.
2. Select Calculate for the relevant tax period from the table on the page.
3. Enter any deductions from subcontractors in the construction industry. If there are no deductions, leave the fields blank.
4. Select Next to view all the amounts calculated or entered for that tax month.
5. Select Next to go back to the updated ‘Calculate amount due to HMRC’ page, which will show the total amount payable to HMRC for that tax month.

Send an Employer Payment Summary

If you created an Employer Payment Summary, you need to send it to claim any relief for recoverable amounts.

1. On the ‘Employer Payment Summary and recoverable amounts’ page, select Outstanding submissions from the menu. It will have a number in brackets after the link if you need to send an Employer Payment Summary.
2. Select Send all outstanding submissions from the menu.
3. Select Next to go to the ‘Submissions authentication’ page.
4. Enter the user ID and password that HMRC gave you when you registered for PAYE Online.
5. Select Next to go to the ‘Submission status’ page, followed by the ‘Submission results’ page to complete the process.

Make sure that you send your Employer Payment Summary by the 19th of the month, otherwise it will not be taken into account for that period and you will have to pay the full amount due from your Full Payment Submission. If your Employer Payment Summary is received after the 19th it will be taken into account against the next period.

Change recoverable amounts

If you enter the wrong recoverable amount in any tax month, you can change the amount.

1. On the homepage select the employer from the list to go to the ‘Employer details’ page.
2. Select Employer Payment Summary and recoverable amounts from the menu.
3. Select Change for the relevant tax month from the table on the page.
4. Change the amounts and select Next to go back to the updated ‘Employer Payment Summary and recoverable amounts’ page.
5. Select Outstanding submissions from the menu to go to the ‘Outstanding submission details’ page.
6. Select Send all outstanding submissions from the menu.
7. Select Next to go to the ‘Submissions authentication’ page.
8. Enter the user ID and password that HMRC gave you when you registered for PAYE Online.
9. Select Next to go to the ‘Submission status’ page, followed by the ‘Submission results’ page.

The Employer Payment Summary will be updated automatically.

Pay HMRC

Most employers must pay HMRC every tax month, which runs from the sixth of one month to the fifth of the following month.

Every month you must pay HMRC the full amount of the deductions (tax, National Insurance contributions and student or postgraduate loan deductions) you owe as reported on your Full Payment Submission in the previous tax month, minus any reductions on all Employer Payment Summaries you sent before the 19th of the month.

Mention the year and month when making your payments, to make sure that they are allocated correctly.

Check the payment amount

You can check the amount you must pay HMRC after you have sent your Full Payment Submission and any Employer Payment Summaries.

1. Select Calculate amount due to HMRC from the menu on the ‘Employer details’ page.
2. Select View Employer Payment Record from the menu. The amount you need to pay is shown in the last column.

The ‘Calculate amount due to HMRC’ page also includes a ‘Pay now’ button, which goes to a page with all payment options, and dates when they should be received by HMRC.

When to pay

You must pay by the:

• 22nd of the next tax month if you pay online — for example, for the tax month from 6 April to 5 May, you must pay by 22 May
• 19th of the next tax month if you do not pay online — for example, for the tax month from 6 April to 5 May, you must pay by 19 May

Some employers qualify to pay HMRC quarterly. For example, they must pay HMRC the full amount of the deductions shown on the Full Payment Submission for months 1, 2 and 3, by the 19th calendar day in month 4 (or the 22nd if payment is made electronically).

You may be able to pay quarterly if you usually pay less than £1,500 a month. To arrange quarterly payments and find out payment deadlines, contact HMRC’s payment helpline.

The time you need to allow for payments to reach HMRC depends on how you pay, and for:

• Faster Payments (online or telephone banking) or CHAPS (Clearing House Automated Payment System), it is the same day or next day
• payments by debit or corporate credit card, Bacs (Bankers Automated Clearing System), cash or cheque at your bank or building society, Direct Debit (if you already have one set up) or cheque through the post, it is 3 working days
• a Direct Debit if you have not set one up before, it is 5 working days

If the deadline is on a weekend or bank holiday, make sure your payment reaches HMRC by the end of the previous working day.

If you do not pay by the deadline, you may need to pay a penalty, interest or both.

If you did not pay any employees during a tax month

You must send a Full Payment Submission every time you pay your employees.

If you do not pay any employees during a whole tax month (from the 6th of a month to the 5th of the following month), you must create and send an Employer Payment Summary to HMRC instead of the Full Payment Submission.

You must send the Employer Payment Summary to HMRC by the 19th of the next month.

If you do not send this Employer Payment Summary to replace a Full Payment Submission, you may be sent a demand for a specified charge, as HMRC can estimate the amount you owe based on previous payments or returns.

Annual reporting and tasks

Send your final payroll report

You need to send your final Full Payment Submission on or before your employees’ last payday of the tax year (which ends on 5 April).

You need to confirm that this is your final payroll report for the tax year.

1. Select Final submission for tax year from the menu of the ‘Employer details’ page.
2. Select Complete final submission for the tax year.
3. Select the checkbox.
4. Follow the steps to complete your final submission.

If you make a mistake in your final Full Payment Submission of the tax year, you’ll need to amend the error and submit a corrected Full Payment Submission.

Send an Employer Payment Summary if you try to send your final payroll report after 19 April and you either:

• forgot to select Yes in the ‘Final submission for year’ field in your final Full Payment Submission
• did not pay anyone in the final pay period of the tax year

‘Week 53’ payments

If you pay your employees weekly, fortnightly or every 4 weeks, you might need to make a ‘week 53’ payment in your final Full Payment Submission of the year.

The tool will work out these payments for you.

HMRC will send a P800 form to any employees who have overpaid tax following a ‘week 53’ payment so that they can claim a refund.

Activate the new tax year

After you start using Basic PAYE Tools, you need to activate each new tax year before you carry out tasks for the year. You will still be able to view information from previous years.

If you make any changes to previous years after activating the new year, you need to update this information manually before entering payment details for the new tax year.

1. Check that you have made updates to Basic PAYE Tools for the new tax year.
2. On the ‘Complete final submission for the tax year’ page, check that the box is selected.
3. Select Next to go to the ‘Change tax year’ page.
4. Select Next to activate the new tax year.

Basic PAYE Tools will display all employees from the previous tax year, including employees who have left, when you activate the new tax year.

If you need any leavers to be available in the new tax year, you can select them at this point for migration.

All current employees will migrate automatically.

If you enter a new employee for the previous tax year after activating the new tax year, a ‘Migrate employees’ page will appear to allow you to migrate this employee to the new tax year.

Change an employee’s tax code

You may be notified about tax code changes through a form P6 or P9. You can also use P9X guidance to change tax codes.

You will need to update the tax codes manually.

1. Select Manage employees from the menu on the ‘Employer details’ page.
2. Select an employee from the list to go to the ‘Employee details’ page.
3. Select Tax code change from the menu and follow the steps to update the tax code.

You must make the updates before entering payment details for the new tax year.

P60 end of year certificate

You must give all employees a form P60 for the previous tax year if they were employed by you in the previous tax year and are still employed by you on 5 April of the current tax year.

You can only access the P60 for the previous tax year on or after 6 April of the current tax year, and you must give your employees their P60 forms by 31 May of the current tax year.

1. Agree with each employee how the P60 will be given to them — in person, by post or by email.
2. Select the previous tax year on the ‘Employer details’ page.
3. Select P60 forms from the menu.
4. Select Open for the relevant employee from the list on the page to view the P60.
5. Save the P60 as a PDF on your computer.

Before emailing P60s, you must get your employees’ agreement to do so.

You can email the PDF as an attachment, or print it from the saved location on your computer.

Back up your data

The security of the data held in Basic PAYE Tools is your responsibility. HMRC does not keep a copy of your data, and will not be able to help if this information is lost or destroyed.

To keep your data secure you:

• should only download information on to password-protected computers that need the employer’s permission to access
• can back up the data onto removable storage media such as a USB memory stick after each pay period, and store it separately from the computer in a secure location

You can back up your data using Basic PAYE Tools.

1. On the Basic PAYE Tools homepage, select Back up your data from the menu to go to the ‘Back up your Employer Database’ page. This shows the back up location and file name.
2. Select Save backup.
3. Select your preferred storage location and save the back up. The back up is saved as a .bak file. If you are using the assistive mode of Basic PAYE Tools, the back up is saved in your ‘Downloads’ folder.
4. Select Next to go to the ‘Backup complete’ page.
5. Select Next to go back to the homepage.

The data file will be compressed to reduce the file size.

Restore your data

You can restore your data to Basic PAYE Tools from a backed up file.

1. On the Basic PAYE Tools homepage, select Restore your data from the menu and follow the instructions.
2. Remain on this page until the back up is restored.
3. You will automatically be taken back to the homepage when the restoration is complete.

Keeping payroll records

You must keep accurate payroll records so HMRC can make sure that:

• you’re deducting and paying over the right amounts
• your employees are getting any statutory pay they’re entitled to
• you’re complying with legislation such as National Minimum Wage and National Living Wage legislation

We may ask to see evidence of how you made your calculations.

You also need to keep:

• any paper P6 tax code notices that we send you
• Gender Recognition Certificates if any employee changes their gender

You need to keep accurate records for audit purposes and to avoid financial penalties. Find out more about keeping records.

How long you need to keep records

You need to keep:

• payroll records for the current and previous 3 tax years
• records proving that you’re paying the National Minimum Wage for 6 years

Your records must include:

• total pay
• all deductions
• total hours worked
• documents that show why a worker is not entitled to the National Minimum Wage

You can check the National Minimum Wage and National Living Wage rates.

Learn more through HMRC email updates, videos and webinars for employing people.