Guidance

Payrolling employees: taxable benefits and expenses

Use the payrolling benefits and expenses online service to show you’re collecting tax on benefits and expenses through your payroll.

Online service

If you choose to payroll you can tell HMRC online. You need to register online before the start of the tax year you want to payroll for.

You must add the cash equivalent of the employees’ benefits to their pay and then tax them through your payroll.

HMRC will make sure the value of the benefit is not included in your employees’ tax codes.

If you use the service you:

  • will not need to use form P11D
  • must still work out the Class 1A National Insurance contributions on benefits and complete form P11D(b)

You can exclude employees from payrolling once you’re registered, but you’ll need to use form P11D to declare the non-payrolled benefits.

Once the tax year has started you’ll have to payroll the benefits for the whole of the tax year, or until you stop providing them.

Before you start

Contact your accounting software provider to make sure your software can collect the correct tax due on the registered benefits directly from your employees’ pay.

If you use Basic PAYE Tools you can now use this service. You still need to register by 5 April.

To use this service you need a Government Gateway user ID and password to enrol for PAYE online.

Service availability

7am to 10pm, Monday to Friday
8am to 8pm, Saturday and Sunday

HMRC services may be slow during busy times. Check if there are any problems with this service.

Submitting electronic P11Ds

You will need to submit electronic P11Ds for any employees where you have provided additional benefits which have not been payrolled.

You can payroll all benefits apart from:

  • living accommodation provided by you as an employer
  • interest free and low interest (beneficial) loans

Further information

Find out more about payrolling: tax employees’ benefits and expenses through your payroll.

Published 12 June 2014
Last updated 24 November 2023 + show all updates
  1. The link to the form 'PAYE — notification of payrolled benefits' to tell us about payrolled benefits paid to your employees has been removed. You must register and use the online service.

  2. The section on Submitting electronic P11Ds has been changed because employers no longer need to use the service to send P11D’s in for payrolled employees from April 2023.

  3. From 6 April 2023, HMRC will no longer HMRC will no longer accept informal payrolling of expenses and benefits, or paper P11D forms.

  4. The address in the section on other ways to apply has been updated.

  5. HMRC's Basic PAYE Tools can now support the payrolling benefits online service.

  6. Welsh translation added.

  7. Link to further guidance on payrolling benefits in kind added.

  8. Guidance on using the new Payrolling Benefits in Kind service has been amended following feedback from users.

  9. Register now to use the new Payrolling Benefits in Kind online service. From 6 April 2016 you'll need to use this service if you want to payroll your expenses and benefits. You'll have to register for the new service by 5 April 2016 and you'll no longer have to submit P11Ds for your employees. This service replaces the current informal payrolling process.

  10. First published.