Resources
On this page, we gathered useful information and quick access to business essentials and guides.
Apprenticeship Levy
Employers and connected companies with a total annual pay bill of more than £3 million, are liable to the Apprenticeship Levy, which is payable monthly. Employers who are not connected to another company or charity will have an annual allowance that reduces the amount of Apprenticeship Levy you have to pay. Apprenticeship Levy is charged at a percentage of your annual pay bill.
Allowance or charge - 2023 to 2024 rate
Apprenticeship Levy allowance – £15,000
Apprenticeship Levy charge – 0.5%
Company & employee vehicles
Advisory rates
Company cars: advisory fuel rates
Use advisory fuel rates to work out mileage costs if you provide company cars to your employees.
These rates apply from 1 March 2023.
Engine size | Petrol — amount per mile | LPG — amount per mile |
1400cc or less | 13 pence | 10 pence |
1401cc to 2000cc | 15 pence | 11 pence |
Over 2000cc | 23 pence | 17 pence |
Engine size | Diesel — amount per mile |
1600cc or less | 13 pence |
1601cc to 2000cc | 15 pence |
Over 2000cc | 20 pence |
Hybrid cars are treated as either petrol or diesel cars for this purpose.
Advisory electricity rate for fully electric cars
Amount per mile: 9 pence.
Electricity is not a fuel for car fuel benefit purposes.
Employee vehicles: mileage allowance payment
Mileage allowance payments are what you pay your employees for using their own vehicles for business journeys.
You can pay your employees an approved amount of mileage allowance payments each year without having to report them to HMRC. To work out the approved amount, multiply your employee’s business travel miles for the year by the rate per mile for their vehicle.
Type of vehicle | Rate per business mile 2023 to 2024 |
Car |
For tax purposes: 45 pence for the first 10,000 business miles in a tax year, then 25 pence for each subsequent mile For National Insurance purposes: 45 pence for all business miles |
Motorcycle | 24 pence for both tax and National Insurance purposes and for all business miles |
Cycle | 20 pence for both tax and National Insurance purposes and for all business miles |
Employment Allowance
Some businesses and charities can claim Employment Allowance to the value of £5000 against their employers’ Class 1 National Insurance contributions. The below information from the Government website explains who is eligible to claim the allowance.
“You can claim Employment Allowance if you’re a business or charity (including community amateur sports clubs) and your employers’ Class 1 National Insurance liabilities were less than £100,000 in the previous tax year.
You can also claim if you employ a care or support worker.
If you’re part of a group of charities or companies (also known as connected companies), the total employers’ Class 1 National Insurance liabilities for the group must be less than £100,000.
Only one company in the group can claim the allowance.
If you have more than one payroll
If you have or had more than one employer PAYE reference, the total employers’ Class 1 National Insurance liabilities for your combined payrolls must be less than £100,000 in the previous tax year
You can only claim Employment Allowance against one of the payrolls.
Check if de minimis state aid rules apply to you
If you make or sell goods or services, Employment Allowance counts as ‘de minimis state aid’. There is a limit to how much de minimis state aid you can get.
You must:
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- Check that you are within the de minimis state aid threshold
- Work out how much de minimis state aid you have received
You must do this even if you do not make a profit.
You cannot claim if
You cannot claim if you are a public body or business doing more than half your work in the public sector (such as local councils and NHS services) – unless you’re a charity.
You also cannot claim if both of the following apply:
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- You’re a company with only one employee paid above the Class 1 National Insurance secondary threshold
- The employee is also a director of the company
Certain employees cannot be included in your claim, such as:
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- Someone whose earnings are within IR35 ‘off-payroll working rules’
- Someone you employ for personal, household or domestic work (like a nanny or gardener) – unless they’re a care or support worker
To find out more about Employment allowance and if you are eligible got to:
National Insurance Thresholds
Class 1A NI: expenses and benefits
You must pay Class 1A National Insurance on work benefits you give to your employees, for example, a company car or private medical insurance . You report and pay Class 1A on expenses and benefits at the end of each tax year.
Class 1A NI: termination awards and sporting testimonial payments
Class 1A National Insurance contributions are due on the amount of termination awards paid to employees which are over £30,000 and on the amount of sporting testimonial payments paid by independent committees which are over £100,000. You report and pay Class 1A on these types of payments during the tax year as part of your payroll.
The National Insurance class 1A rate for 2023 to 2024 is 13.8%
Class 1B NI: PAYE Settlement Agreements (PSAs)
You pay Class 1B National Insurance if you have a PAYE Settlement Agreement. This allows you to make one annual payment to cover all the tax and National Insurance due on small or irregular taxable expenses or benefits for your employees.
The National Insurance class 1B rate for 2023 to 2024 is 13.8%
National Minimum Wage
National Minimum wage is the lowest amount per hour an employer is allowed to pay an employee. At the start of each tax year, the Government adjust the minimum wage in accordance with the cost of living.
In April 2023 employers will see changes to the National Minimum wage and National Living Wage.
As of April 2023, the National Living Wage (NLW) has risen to £10.42. This represents an increase of 92 pence or 9.7 per cent.
Please ensure
you have reviewed all employees’ hourly rates, guaranteeing those on a fixed annual salary do not fall below these categories.
You may also need to take into consideration any imbalance between employees’ pay rates.
The list of rates is laid out below, with workers in all age brackets eligible for an increase to the minimum amount that they can expect to be paid per hour (2023/24):
The National Living Wage for ages 23 and above | £10.42 |
The National Minimum Wage for 21 to 22-year-olds | £10.18 |
For 18 to 20-year-olds | £7.49 |
For 16–17-year-olds | £5.28 |
For apprentices | £5.28 |
Please note, that we endeavour to assess all your workers as well, but it remains your responsibility to review and approve any increase made in accordance with the NMW/NLW.
For more information go to:
Pay employers’ PAYE
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.
As a Payroll Compliance client, we will send you a reminder to pay your PAYE between the 10th-15th of every month, the email will provide you with a P30 report that breaks down the PAYE payment. At the bottom of the report, your accounts office reference and the 4 extra numbers to identify the payment are stated along with HMRC’s bank details.
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.
Statutory Sick Pay (SSP)
The same weekly Statutory Sick Pay rate applies to all employees. However, the amount you must actually pay an employee for each day they’re off work due to illness (the daily rate) depends on the number of ‘qualifying days’ they work each week.
Unrounded daily rates | Number of qualifying days in week | 1 day to pay | 2 days to pay | 3 days to pay | 4 days to pay | 5 days to pay | 6 days to pay | 7 days to pay |
£15.6285 | 7 | £15.63 | £31.26 | £46.88 | £62.52 | £78.14 | £93.78 | £109.40 |
£18.2333 | 6 | £18.24 | £36.47 | £54.70 | £72.93 | £91.17 | £109.40 | — |
£21.8800 | 5 | £21.88 | £43.76 | £65.64 | £87.52 | £109.40 | — | — |
£27.3500 | 4 | £27.35 | £54.70 | £82.05 | £109.40 | — | — | — |
£36.4666 | 3 | £36.47 | £72.94 | £109.40 | — | — | — | — |
£54.7000 | 2 | £54.70 | £109.40 | — | — | — | — | — |
£109.4000 | 1 | £109.40 | — | — | — | — |
Statutory Payments
Type of payment or recovery | 2023 to 2024 rate |
Statutory Maternity Pay — weekly rate for first 6 weeks | 90% of the employee’s average weekly earnings |
Statutory Maternity Pay — weekly rate for remaining weeks | £172.48 or 90% of the employee’s average weekly earnings, whichever is lower |
Statutory Paternity Pay (SPP) — weekly rate | £172.48 or 90% of the employee’s average weekly earnings, whichever is lower |
Statutory Adoption Pay (SAP) — weekly rate for first 6 weeks | 90% of the employee’s average weekly earnings |
Statutory Adoption Pay — weekly rate for remaining weeks | £172.48 or 90% of the employee’s average weekly earnings, whichever is lower |
Statutory Shared Parental Pay (ShPP) —weekly rate | £172.48 or 90% of the employee’s average weekly earnings, whichever is lower |
Statutory Parental Bereavement Pay (SPBP) — weekly rate | £172.48 or 90% of the employee’s average weekly earnings, whichever is lower |
SMP, SPP, ShPP, SAP or SPBP — proportion of your payments you can recover from HMRC |
92% if your total Class 1 National Insurance (both employee and employer contributions) is above £45,000 for the previous tax year 103% if your total Class 1 National Insurance for the previous tax year is £45,000 or lower |
Student Loan & Postgraduate Loan Recovery
Rate or threshold | 2023 to 2024 rate |
Employee earnings threshold for student loan plan 1 |
|
Employee earnings threshold for student loan plan 2 |
|
Employee earnings threshold for student loan plan 4 |
|
Student loan deductions | 9% |
Employee earnings threshold for postgraduate loan |
|
Postgraduate loan deductions | 6% |
Thresholds, Rates & Codes
The amount of Income Tax you deduct from your employees depends on their tax code and how much of their taxable income is above their Personal Allowance.
The emergency tax codes from 6 April 2023 are:
- 1257L W1
- 1257L M1
- 1257L X