You must pay your PAYE bill to HM Revenue and Customs ( HMRC ) by: the 22nd of the next tax month if you pay monthly the 22nd after the end of the quarter if you pay quarterly - for example, 22 July for the 6 April to 5 July quarter If you pay by cheque through the post, it must reach HMRC by the 19th of the month. You may have to pay interest and penalties if your payment is late. There’s a different way to pay penalties . Pay online You’ll need to use your 13-character accounts office reference number as the payment reference. You can find this on either: the letter HMRC sent you when you first registered as an employer the front of your payment booklet or the letter from HMRC that replaced it You need to add 4 extra numbers to the end of your 13-character accounts office reference number each time you make an early or late payment. If you use this service, it will work out the numbers for you. Pay now What you’re paying Your PAYE bill may include: employee Income Tax deductions Class 1 and 1B National Insurance Class 1A National Insurance on termination awards and sporting testimonials Student Loan repayments Construction Industry Scheme ( CIS ) deductions your Apprenticeship Levy payments (starting from April 2017) if you, or employers you’re connected to, have an annual pay bill of more than £3 million You pay your Class 1A National Insurance on work benefits that you give to your employees separately. PAYE Settlement Agreements are also paid separately. Ways to pay Make sure you pay HMRC by the deadline. The time you need to allow depends on how you pay. You can no longer pay at the Post Office. Same or next day online or telephone banking by Faster Payments or CHAPS through your online bank account 3 working days by debit or corporate credit card online online or telephone banking by Bacs at your bank or building society (cash or cheque) Direct Debit (if you’ve already set one up) by cheque through the post 5 working days Direct Debit (if you have not set up one before) If the deadline falls on a weekend or bank holiday, make sure your payment reaches HMRC on the last working day before it (unless you’re paying by Faster Payments using online or telephone banking ). Payment booklets You’ll need a payment booklet from HMRC to pay at your bank or building society, or by post. If you do not have one, ask HMRC to send it to you . If you’re no longer using your payment booklet, you can ask HMRC to stop sending it . HMRC will automatically stop sending your payment booklet if you make 2 or more electronic payments in a year.

Set up a Direct Debit through your business’s HM Revenue and Customs ( HMRC ) online account to make a single payment. This means you’ll need to set up a payment each time you pay HMRC through Direct Debit. Reference number You’ll need to use your 13-character accounts office reference number as the payment reference. You can find this on either: the letter HMRC sent you when you first registered as an employer the front of your payment booklet or the letter from HMRC that replaced it You need to add extra numbers to your 13-character accounts office reference number each time you make: an early payment (before the 6th of the tax month or quarter the payment is due) a late payment (on or after the 5th of the tax month after the payment was due) Your payment may be delayed if you use the wrong reference number. How long it takes Allow 5 working days to process a Direct Debit the first time you set one up. It should take 3 working days the next time if you’re using the same bank details. The payments will show on your bank statement as ‘ HMRC NDDS’.

Approve a payment through your online bank account

You can pay your PAYE bill directly using your online or mobile bank account. When you’re ready to pay, start your PAYE payment . Select the ‘pay by bank account’ option. You’ll then be directed to sign in to your online or mobile banking account to approve your PAYE payment. The payment is usually instant but sometimes it takes up to 2 hours to show in your account. You’ll need to have your online banking details ready to pay this way. Reference number You’ll need to use your 13-character accounts office reference number as the payment reference. You can find this on either: the letter HMRC sent you when you first registered as an employer the front of your payment booklet or the letter from HMRC that replaced it Your payment may be delayed if you use the wrong reference number.

Make an online or telephone bank transfer

You can make a transfer from your bank account by Faster Payments, CHAPS or Bacs. Sort code Account number Account name 08 32 10 12001039 HMRC Cumbernauld If your account is overseas Account number (IBAN) Bank identifier code (BIC) Account name GB62BARC20114770297690 BARCGB22 HMRC Cumbernauld Reference number You’ll need to use your 13-character accounts office reference number as the payment reference. You can find this on either: the letter HMRC sent you when you first registered as an employer the front of your payment booklet or the letter from HMRC that replaced it You need to add extra numbers to your 13-character accounts office reference number each time you make: an early payment (before the 6th of the tax month or quarter the payment is due) a late payment (on or after the 5th of the tax month after the payment was due) Your payment may be delayed if you use the wrong reference number. How long it takes Payments made by Faster Payments (online or telephone banking) will usually reach HMRC on the same or next day. CHAPS payments usually reach HMRC the same working day if you pay within your bank’s processing times. Bacs payments usually take 3 working days. Check your bank’s transaction limits and processing times before making a payment. Multiple PAYE schemes Send an online CHAPS enquiry form if you want to make a single payment via CHAPS for multiple PAYE schemes. HMRC ’s banking address is: Barclays Bank PLC 1 Churchill Place London United Kingdom E14 5HP

Reference numbers for early and late payments

You need to add 4 extra numbers to your 13-character accounts office reference number if you’re making an early or late payment: by Direct Debit by making an online or telephone bank transfer at your bank or building society by cheque through the post You need to update the reference number each time you make an early or late payment. If you’re paying through the online service , it will work out the numbers for you. How to work out the extra numbers Each month and quarter of the tax year is given a number. The 4 numbers you add to your 13-character accounts office reference number depend on whether you pay: monthly quarterly annually This table shows the numbers you need to use for each month of the tax year. Tax year month Reference number 6 April to 5 May 01 6 May to 5 June 02 6 June to 5 July 03 6 July to 5 August 04 6 August to 5 September 05 6 September to 5 October 06 6 October to 5 November 07 6 November to 5 December 08 6 December to 5 January 09 6 January to 5 February 10 6 February to 5 March 11 6 March to 5 April 12 This table shows the numbers you need to use for each quarter of the tax year. Tax year quarter Reference number 6 April to 5 July 03 6 July to 5 October 06 6 October to 5 January 09 6 January to 5 April 12 If you pay monthly The 4 numbers you need to add to the end of your 13-character accounts office reference number are: the last 2 numbers of the tax year your payment is for the number of the month of the tax year your payment is for Example If you need to make a payment for the month of 6 May to 5 June 2022, the 4 numbers you need to add to the end of your 13-character accounts office reference number are 2302. This is worked out as follows: the tax year you’re paying for ends in 2023 = 23 the month you’re paying for (6 May to 5 June 2022) is the second month of the 2022 to 2023 tax year = 02 If you pay quarterly The 4 numbers you need to add to the end of your 13-character accounts office reference number are: the last 2 numbers of the tax year your payment is for the number of the month of the tax year that the quarter ends on Example If you need to make a payment for the quarter covering 6 July to 5 October 2022, the 4 numbers you need to add to the end of your 13-character accounts office reference number are 2306. This is worked out as follows: the tax year you’re paying for ends in 2023 = 23 the quarter you’re paying for (6 July to 5 October 2022) ends on the sixth month of the tax year = 06 If you pay annually The 4 numbers you need to add to the end of your 13-character accounts office reference number are: the last 2 numbers of the tax year your payment is for the month of the tax year you paid your employees Example If you paid your employees on 8 October 2022, the 4 numbers you need to add are 2307. This is worked out as follows: the tax year you’re paying for ends in 2023 = 23 the month you paid your employees (6 October to 5 November) is the seventh month of the tax year = 07

Check your payment has been received

Check your HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) online account - it should update within 6 working days of making payment. If you’re paying by post, you can include a letter with your payment to request a receipt from HMRC.

Tell HMRC no payment is due

You must tell HM Revenue and Customs ( HMRC ) if you have not paid any employees for at least one tax month. You can tell HMRC by filling in an Employer Payment Summary ( EPS ) . You must send it by the 19th of the month following the tax month when no employees were paid. If you do not send an EPS , HMRC will send you a notice estimating how much you owe. You may have to pay a penalty. Telling HMRC in advance You can tell HMRC that you will not pay any employees up to 12 months in advance . Contractors in the Construction Industry Scheme (CIS) who have no payments to make need to tell HMRC through a CIS return and a EPS. CIS contractors with payments to make only need to file a CIS return.

Pay employers' PAYE

Q: By debit or corporate credit card online

You can pay online . There’s a fee if you pay by corporate credit card or corporate debit card. The fee is not refundable. There’s no fee if you pay by personal debit card. You cannot pay by personal credit card. If you’re unable to pay your employers’ PAYE bill in full by card, you should use another payment method like a bank transfer. Reference number You’ll need to use your 13-character accounts office reference number as the payment reference. You can find this on either: the letter HMRC sent you when you first registered as an employer the front of your payment booklet or the letter from HMRC that replaced it Your payment may be delayed if you use the wrong reference number. How long it takes Allow 3 working days for your payment to reach HMRC ’s bank account.

Q: At your bank or building society

Make your cheque payable to ‘HM Revenue and Customs only’. You’ll need to pay in using the payslip for the correct period. If you do not have one of these, ask HMRC to send you a payment booklet . Allow 3 working days for your payment to reach HMRC ’s bank account.

Overview

You must pay your PAYE bill to HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) by:

the 22nd of the next tax month if you pay monthly
the 22nd after the end of the quarter if you pay quarterly - for example, 22 July for the 6 April to 5 July quarter

If you pay by cheque through the post, it must reach HMRC by the 19th of the month.

You may have to pay interest and penalties if your payment is late. There’s a different way to pay penalties.

Pay online

You’ll need to use your 13-character accounts office reference number as the payment reference. You can find this on either:

the letter HMRC sent you when you first registered as an employer
the front of your payment booklet or the letter from HMRC that replaced it

You need to add 4 extra numbers to the end of your 13-character accounts office reference number each time you make an early or late payment. If you use this service, it will work out the numbers for you.

Pay now

What you’re paying

Your PAYE bill may include:

employee Income Tax deductions
Class 1 and 1B National Insurance
Class 1A National Insurance on termination awards and sporting testimonials
Student Loan repayments
Construction Industry Scheme (CIS) deductions
your Apprenticeship Levy payments (starting from April 2017) if you, or employers you’re connected to, have an annual pay bill of more than £3 million

You pay your Class 1A National Insurance on work benefits that you give to your employees separately.

PAYE Settlement Agreements are also paid separately.

Ways to pay

Make sure you pay HMRC by the deadline. The time you need to allow depends on how you pay.

You can no longer pay at the Post Office.

Same or next day

online or telephone banking by Faster Payments or CHAPS
through your online bank account

3 working days

by debit or corporate credit card online
online or telephone banking by Bacs
at your bank or building society (cash or cheque)
Direct Debit (if you’ve already set one up)
by cheque through the post

5 working days

Direct Debit (if you have not set up one before)

If the deadline falls on a weekend or bank holiday, make sure your payment reaches HMRC on the last working day before it (unless you’re paying by Faster Payments using online or telephone banking).

Payment booklets

You’ll need a payment booklet from HMRC to pay at your bank or building society, or by post. If you do not have one, ask HMRC to send it to you.

If you’re no longer using your payment booklet, you can ask HMRC to stop sending it.

HMRC will automatically stop sending your payment booklet if you make 2 or more electronic payments in a year.

View a printable version of the whole guide

Pay employers' PAYE

Overview

Pay online

What you’re paying

Ways to pay

Same or next day

3 working days

5 working days

Payment booklets

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Pay employers' PAYE

Overview

Pay online

What you’re paying

Ways to pay

Same or next day

3 working days

5 working days

Payment booklets

Related content

Is this page useful?

Help us improve GOV.UK

Help us improve GOV.UK