Paying HMRC

Every month you have to pay HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC):

Pay what you owe by the 22nd of the month (or the 19th if paying by post) - you may have to pay a penalty if you do not.

If you usually pay less than £1,500 per month, you may be able to pay quarterly instead of monthly. Contact the payment helpline to find out.

Viewing what you owe

View your HMRC online account to see the reports you’ve sent and to find out what you owe.

There are things you can check if your PAYE bill is not what you expected.

How to pay

You can pay your PAYE bill in a number of different ways.

Interest and penalties

HMRC will usually tell you if they think you’ve paid late - either in a letter or a notice through PAYE Online. You’ll be charged interest daily at the standard rate.

You may be charged a penalty if you do not pay on time or in full.

  1. Step 1 Check this process is right for you

    Follow these steps if you're taking on someone with the employment status of 'employee'.

    1. Check who counts as an employee

    There are other steps you may need to take first if you have not employed someone before.

    1. Get ready to employ someone for the first time

    The rules are different if you want to take on someone with another type of employment status, such as agency staff, freelancers, consultants and contractors.

    1. Check your responsibilities when you take on someone with a different employment status and contract type
  2. Step 2 Recruit someone

    You need to advertise the role and interview candidates. You can use a recruitment agency to do this or do it yourself.

    1. Find out about recruiting someone yourself on Acas

    As an employer you must make sure you recruit employees fairly.

    1. Avoid discrimination during recruitment
    2. Make your application process accessible for employees with disabilities or health conditions
  3. and Check they have the right to work in the UK

  4. and Find out which DBS check is right for your employee

    You may need to check if someone has a criminal record, for example, if they'll be working in healthcare or with children. This is known as a Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) check.

    1. Find out which DBS check is right for your employee
    2. How to do a DBS check
  5. Step 3 Check if they need to be put into a workplace pension

  6. Step 4 Agree a contract and salary

  7. Step 5 Tell HMRC about your new employee