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The text included on the PDF resources

Updated 18 January 2024

The following text appears on the posters and help cards we have uploaded in PDF format.

Posters

Don’t get caught out by bad tax advice

Avoid unexpected costs. Check you’re eligible on GOV.UK before claiming work expenses – even if you use a tax refund company.

Could you get money towards professional membership fees?

See if you’re eligible – go directly to GOV.UK and search claim work expenses

Check out if you could claim work travel costs

See if you’re eligible – go directly to GOV.UK and search claim work expenses.

You could get help towards work from home costs

See if you’re eligible – go directly to GOV.UK and search claim your work from home expenses

Get help for workwear and uniform costs

See if you’re eligible – go directly to GOV.UK and search claim work expenses.

Help cards

Employee help card: Providing your employer and HMRC with accurate personal information - get the right pay faster

Providing your employer and HMRC with the right information helps to make sure that you are paying the correct tax and National Insurance contributions and getting all the pay due to you. This helps to protect your entitlement to some state benefits and your State Pension too.

All your details should exactly match your official documents (passport, birth certificate, etc.), including your:

• name – full and official forename(s) and surname
• date of birth, and
• National Insurance number

Completing the starter checklist, will help to make sure you’ve provided all the details needed by your new employer and HMRC.

Name

Always give your full forename(s), not just your initial(s). Also make sure that your forename(s) and surname are in the correct order (for example, John Smith and not J Smith or Smith J).

Include your middle name in full if you have one (for example, John Michael Smith and not John M Smith).

If you change your name, let your employer know, and also tell HMRC about changes to your details on GOV.UK or in the HMRC app.

Date of birth

• Always provide your correct date of birth, as giving a wrong date of birth may affect your entitlement to state benefits.
• Check that your date of birth is in the correct format. Enter the day, month and full year of birth (for example, 05/05/1985).

National Insurance number

Your National Insurance number ensures you’re paying the right tax, but also links to your state pension and benefits you might be entitled to, so it’s important to get it right.

• Your National Insurance number will begin with two letters, followed by six numbers and will end with a letter which will be either A, B, C or D.
• If you do not know your National Insurance number, the quickest and easiest way to find it is in the HMRC app (log in using your government gateway ID or create an account). Once you’re logged in, go to ‘your details’ and the National Insurance confirmation letter is available under ‘proof of your National Insurance number’.
• Your National Insurance Number can also be found through your online account or on a document you may already have, for example a payslip or P60.
• If you have never been issued a National Insurance number, you can apply for a National Insurance number online.

Checking information

Your employer may want to check the information you give them with an official source such as:

• HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) documents
• the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) documents
• your passport, or
• your birth certificate.

Helping them check your details are correct means you’ll get the right pay quicker.

Your rights and obligations

HMRC’s Charter explains what you can expect from us and what we expect from you. You can find more information about this on GOV.UK.

Employer help card: How to support your new employees to get the right pay faster - collecting personal details

We know there’s a lot to do when you take on a new employee, and we want to help you and them get the right pay sorted.

This help card covers how to record your employees’ personal details accurately, including:

• name – full and official forename(s) and surname
• date of birth, and
• National Insurance number.

Getting this right helps to make sure your employee is paid correctly – including paying the right tax and National Insurance contributions (NIC), which protects their entitlement to state benefits and the State Pension.

This is good for you too, as it means you’ll receive less questions from them and avoid what can become a time-consuming problem. You can find out more on how to tell HMRC about a new employee on GOV.UK.

Name

• Provide the full and official forename(s) of your employee, ensuring that these are in the correct order. Their name should match any ID and other documents, be spelled out in full rather than just initials, and include their middle name if they have one (e.g., John Michael Smith and not J M Smith).
• If your employee has a double-barrelled forename, this should be entered in the forename box, and double-barrelled surnames entered in the surname box.
• If they have a second forename, enter in full in the appropriate box. If your software only provides a single forename(s) field, enter it in full after their forename separated by a space (for example, John Michael). Only enter their titles (Dr, Miss etc.) in the title box.
• Double check the name is spelt right, and don’t include any punctuation.

Date of birth

Provide the correct date of birth for your employee (if you enter a default or incorrect date it will delay the right pay).

Check that the date of birth is in the correct format. Enter the day, month and full year of birth (e.g., 05/05/1985).

If you’re not sure of their full name or date of birth, you can ask to check it against their:

• passport
• EU identity card
• birth or marriage certificate
• full UK driving licence (photo version)
• Biometric Resident Permits.

National Insurance number

Make sure you submit the correct National Insurance number, as entering a default or incorrect number will delay your employee getting the right pay.

If the employee doesn’t know their National Insurance number, ask them to use the HMRC app to find it. They can log in using their Government Gateway ID or create a new account. To access their National Insurance confirmation letter, they should select ‘your details’ in the app and the letter is available under ‘proof of your National Insurance number’.

The number can also be found on the employee’s:

• paper National Insurance number notification letter (usually received before they turn 16)
• National Insurance card (issued between 1975 and 2011)
• documents from HMRC or Department for Work and Pensions that include a National Insurance number.

If they still can’t find their National Insurance number, it’s best to leave the box blank.

What does a National Insurance number look like?

Their National Insurance number will begin with two letters, followed by six numbers and will end with a letter which will be either A, B, C or D.

Employer help card: How to support your new employees to get the right pay faster - understanding the starter declaration form

We know how much there is to do when you take on a new employee, and we want to help you get their pay sorted.

To make this as simple as possible, this help card covers:

• what to do if your new employee doesn’t have a P45
• when to use starter declaration code C and what tax code to use with this.

Getting this right helps to make sure your employee is paid correctly – including paying the right tax and National Insurance contributions (NIC), which protects their entitlement to state benefits and the State Pension.

This is good for you too, as it means you’ll receive fewer questions from them and avoid what can become a time-consuming problem.

What to do if your new employee doesn’t have a P45?

If your employee already has their P45, you can use this to gather the information needed when starting their new role. If they don’t have a P45, they will need to complete the starter checklist.

It’s really important that you complete the starter checklist before adding your employee to the payroll, to help make sure they are paid correctly.

You can find the appropriate starter declaration code and tax code in just a few clicks by using our checklist. These are both needed when submitting a Full Payment Submission (FPS) to HMRC.

To help other employers, you should make sure that you’re issuing P45s to employees leaving your organisation, as this will make the induction process much quicker and simpler for them.

What to do if the starter declaration form tells you to use code C?

When completing the starter checklist, your employee will be asked to state which of the four starter declaration statements applies to them. If they select C, this means they have another job or receive a pension (State, workplace or private).

The checklist will allocate your employee a starter declaration code and tax code based on the information provided, and these determine how much your employee will be taxed.

If the starter checklist shows that your new employee should be on starter declaration code C, use tax code BR for them. This means your employee will be taxed at the basic rate on their income from this job. Any other tax code is incorrect.

If you cannot complete the starter checklist, put your new employee on starter declaration code C and use tax code 0T.

Resource pack

Introduction

We know how time consuming it can be when taking on new employees or agency workers, and completing all the admin that comes with it. We want to make this easier for employers and help them to get their new starters on the correct pay sooner.  

We know you play a vital role in advising and supporting employers. This resource pack has been designed to provide information that we think is important for your networks, and we hope that you’ll be able to use it as part of your communications. Thank you for your continued support.

How HMRC process data 

Stakeholders have told us that it’s useful to know how we process new starter data, as this helps them understand what we need from employers.  

When we receive ‘in-year’ and ‘end of year’ information, the following steps are carried out to match an individual to their records, and determine the tax code we tell employers to use:   

Once the payroll information is submitted, we see if we can match key employer submitted data with the individual’s National Insurance account. We compare the following details:   

• National Insurance number    
• surname  
• forenames   
• date of birth   
• gender  

If there is a match, HMRC associate this information with the correct National Insurance account, allowing us to issue the right tax code at the earliest opportunity.   

If we can’t find a match at this stage, we will try and trace the correct National Insurance number by using the employer submitted surname, forenames, date of birth and gender.   

If there is now a match, we associate this information with the correct National Insurance number account. If there is still no match, we will investigate this further until the correct National Insurance account is found, and the payroll information can be associated.   

As you can see, it’s really important that accurate information is provided at the earliest opportunity. In particular, submitting the correct National Insurance number speeds up the process and allows us to correctly match an individual to their records and issue an accurate tax code to the employer.   

Key messages for your networks 

We’ve identified a number of ways that employers can get their new starters on the right tax code sooner, so they don’t have to deal with as many payroll queries. Here’s some messaging on the behaviours we’re hoping to encourage, and some helpful tips too:

Obtaining personal details and entering them accurately 

It’s really important that you get accurate information and enter it in the correct format. HMRC use this data to match the new employment to their Pay As You Earn (PAYE) records – which helps them to get taxed and paid correctly. 

To support you when gathering this information from your future employees and agency workers, here are the details you’ll need from them, and how to enter them on your returns in future:  

Name:  

• enter their full and official forename(s) and surname, in the correct order – include their middle name in full, if they have one 
• double-barrelled forenames should be entered in the forename box and if your employee/agency worker has a second forename, enter it in the appropriate box – if your software only provides a single forename(s) field, enter it after the forename separated by a space 
• double-barrelled surnames should be entered in the surname box 
• enter their title (Dr, Miss etc.) in the title box only 
• don’t include any punctuation at the end of forenames and surnames 

Date of birth: 

• include the day, month, and full year of birth (for example, 05/05/1985) 
• always provide the correct date of birth – do not enter a default date or incorrect date, as this could mean the employee/agency worker gets the wrong pay, and cause you more work 

National Insurance (NI) number: 

• if they don’t know their NI number, the quickest and easiest way for them to access their NI number is through the HMRC app 
• only enter your employee’s/agency workers’ correct NI number – if you don’t know the correct number, don’t enter a default or incorrect number, leave the box blank 

Checking your employee’s and agency worker’s details – the best way to make sure you’re submitting the correct details about your workers, is by making sure they exactly match their official documents. Examples of these include their passport, UK driving licence and birth certificate. 

When there’s no P45 - use the digital starter checklist 

Get your new employee or agency worker to complete the digital starter checklist before they start - they can send you the completed version digitally to make it even easier.

Ask them to complete the starter checklist at the same time you ask for their bank details - they’re more likely to do it this way and see the link with getting the right pay  Don’t wait for a P45 - if your new employee/agency worker can’t get their P45 in time for your payroll run, that’s fine – the starter checklist will tell you the right tax code to use temporarily.

Make sure you’re issuing P45s to employees and agency workers leaving your organisation - this will help the induction process in their next job 

Use the right tax code with starter declaration code C 

You should not use any tax code other than BR or 0T with starter declaration code C. If the starter checklist shows that your employees or agency workers should be on starter declaration code C, use tax code BR for them. If they’re unable to complete the starter checklist and don’t have a P45, use starter declaration code C and the tax code 0T.

Why employers should care about providing the right details 

The details that you enter in the first Real Time Information (RTI) return for your new employee/agency worker are important, because HMRC use them to determine the amount an individual is taxed and match them to their existing PAYE records. This includes the starter declaration code, tax code and their personal details (name, National Insurance number and date of birth). 

If this information is wrong, HMRC may not tax them correctly straight away. This means additional work for you – amending your payroll later on – and the wrong pay for your worker. It could also impact them in other ways too, such as affecting their claim for Universal Credit. 

Top tips for new employees and agency workers 

Starting a new job sometimes means contacting HMRC for information which can be accessed in just a few clicks through the HMRC app. Anyone can access their employment details through the app. This includes their 5-year employment history and income, National Insurance number and tax code.  

This is the quickest and easiest way for your new employees/agency workers to access the details they need to share with you and can help speed up the recruitment process and security checks significantly, as new recruits don’t have to call HMRC and wait 15 days for information to arrive in the post. 

To help your new starters get into their roles faster, please encourage them to download the HMRC app during onboarding. They can use this once in the role too to monitor their pay and taxes.

Social media content for you to share 

Example 1 :

Over 2 million employees and agency workers were put on the wrong tax code last year.   

In just a few clicks, you can find the correct starter declaration and tax code for your new workers by using our starter checklist.   

Complete the digital checklist today and help your new starter get on the right pay  

Learn more on GOV.UK: www.gov.uk/guidance/starter-checklist-for-paye  

Example 2  

Starting a new job? Help to make sure you get paid the right amount by giving your employer the correct:  

• name  
• date of birth  
• National Insurance number.  

Find out more on GOV.UK: www.gov.uk/new-employee/employee-information.