UK payroll year-end: a checklist
Reviewed by Mellow Editorial Team, HR & payroll content team
The UK payroll year-end runs from the end of the tax year on 5 April through to the key submission and distribution deadlines that follow. Miss them and you face HMRC penalties and unhappy employees — so knowing exactly what to do, and when, matters.
What "year-end" actually means in payroll
The UK tax year ends on 5 April. Everything that follows — final submissions, employee certificates, expense reporting — belongs to the year-end process. For the 2026/27 tax year, your obligations sit in the weeks after 5 April 2027. The process is not a single task; it is a sequence of steps, each with its own deadline.
Step 1: Submit your final Full Payment Submission
Under Real Time Information (RTI), you report payroll data to HMRC via a Full Payment Submission (FPS) on or before every payday throughout the year. At year-end, your final FPS for the tax year must be marked as the last submission. You do this by setting the "final submission for year" indicator in your payroll software before sending it.
If you have already sent your last FPS without marking it, you can send an Employer Payment Summary (EPS) with the "final submission" flag instead. Do not send a blank FPS just to correct this — use the EPS route.
Step 2: Issue P60s to all employees by 31 May
Every employee who was on your payroll on 5 April must receive a P60 by 31 May. The P60 is their end-of-year earnings and deductions certificate — they need it to complete self-assessment tax returns, claim tax refunds, and as proof of income for mortgage applications.
Key points:
- You only issue a P60 to employees still employed on 5 April. Anyone who left during the tax year received a P45 at the time they left.
- The P60 must show total pay, total tax deducted, National Insurance contributions, and student loan deductions where applicable.
- Most payroll software generates P60s automatically. You can issue them digitally provided employees can access and save a permanent copy.
Missing the 31 May deadline can result in an HMRC penalty, but the more immediate consequence is that employees cannot file their own tax returns accurately.
Step 3: Submit P11Ds (and P11D(b)) by 6 July
If you provided any taxable benefits in kind during the year — company cars, private medical insurance, interest-free loans above the threshold, gym memberships — you must report them on a P11D for each affected employee. The deadline is 6 July following the end of the tax year.
You also need to submit a P11D(b) to declare the total Class 1A National Insurance due on those benefits. Class 1A employer NI is charged at 13.8% on the value of benefits reported. Payment of the Class 1A NI is due by 19 July (22 July if paying electronically).
If you payroll your benefits — meaning you collect tax on benefits through the payroll each month rather than reporting them on P11Ds — you may not need to submit P11Ds for those benefits. Check which benefits you have registered to payroll, because the two approaches have different reporting paths.
Step 4: Reconcile and check your records
Before you close the year, run a reconciliation. This means checking that:
- The figures in your payroll software match what you have reported to HMRC via FPS submissions across the year.
- Tax and National Insurance deducted from employees matches what has been paid to HMRC each month.
- Pension contributions — at minimum 3% employer and 5% employee on qualifying earnings — have been correctly calculated and paid to the pension provider.
- Statutory payments (sick pay, maternity pay, paternity pay) have been recorded correctly and any recovery claimed where applicable.
Discrepancies found now are far easier to correct than discrepancies found during an HMRC compliance check later.
Step 5: Prepare for the new tax year
Once year-end obligations are met, set your payroll up for the new tax year before your first payday. This involves applying any updated tax codes issued by HMRC, loading the new personal allowance (£12,570 for 2026/27), updating National Insurance thresholds, and confirming auto-enrolment re-enrolment duties if your three-year cycle falls due.
Bear in mind that the Employment Rights Act 2025 has strengthened day-one rights for employees. If you are updating employment contracts or policies alongside your payroll reset, take this into account — some of those changes affect what you need to record and administer in payroll going forward.
Year-end deadline summary
| Task | Deadline |
|---|---|
| Final FPS marked as year-end | On or before last payday in tax year |
| P60 issued to employees | 31 May |
| P11D and P11D(b) submitted | 6 July |
| Class 1A NI paid | 19 / 22 July |
---
Run HR and payroll in United Kingdom with Mellow
Mellow brings HR, payroll and 12 AI agents into one platform — built to handle United Kingdom properly, with payroll included, from £4 per employee per month. The AI agents don't just answer questions; they generate contracts, run cost estimates and draft letters for you.
- United Kingdom payroll software
[Start a free trial →](/register)