Blog Article

Have you already missed your staging date (or are you in danger of doing so)?

By James Nadal

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By James Nadal

Author

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Updated 11th July 2022 | 3 min read Published 12th June 2014

If you provide any taxable benefits to employees then you must submit to HMRC a P11D form (or P9 for employees earning less than £8,500 per year) for each employee receiving benefits. You must also submit one additional form, P11D (b), to declare the overall amount of Class 1A National Insurance contributions (NICs) due on all the expenses and benefits you’ve provided.

Examples of taxable benefits include:

• Private medical insurance

• Company cars

• Gym membership

You must also provide a P11D form to each of your employees which details the benefits they have received over the year and tax due.

Time is of the essence!

The deadline for submissions is 6th July 2014 and payment of Class 1A NICs should reach HMRC by 22nd July. The HMRC will impose fines for late submissions – currently £100 per 50 employees for each month or part month that a return remains outstanding.

Submitting returns

Many companies ignore their P11Ds as they are unsure what to do and how to go about working out the tax that is due for each employee but with the fines mentioned above you could end up with a nasty surprise by not staying on top of this once a year task.

The fastest, easiest and most secure way to submit your returns is electronically. Quality of returns is extremely important to ensure they are not rejected by HMRC. Using a specially designed software such as IRIS P11D Organiser will ensure that the often complex calculations are performed correctly and that the returns contain accurate information so are accepted first time. Things get even easier after year one as benefits can be rolled forward and items inputted throughout the year as necessary (preventing the last minute rush!)

Click here for more information on IRIS P11D Organiser. To arrange a free online demonstration please call the IRIS team on 0344 815 5677.

Information from leading pension providers, including NEST, is highlighting that a significant number of employers may have already missed their staging date.

NEST chief executive, Tim Jones, says “We are not seeing the significant step-up that we would have expected had all those due to stage in April gone through. We are doing hundreds of employers a week but not thousands. Some people look to have gone through their staging date without having put a scheme in place.”

Complying with automatic enrolment is compulsory for all employers and it is important not to underestimate the tasks involved and the time that this will take.

Morten Nilsson, chief executive of NOW: Pensions, has echoed this stating: "Auto-enrolment is looming large on the horizon for thousands of small and medium sized companies but many firms are taking a gamble by leaving it late to find a pension provider."

IRIS experience has showed the earlier companies prepare, the smoother the journey will be. Understanding the legislation, finding a suitable pension provider and ensuring you are able to comply with key tasks such as assessing employees and communicating through the different stages of the automatic enrolment process all take time and careful preparation. Even if you plan to defer there are still key actions that must be completed to ensure you don’t fall foul of The Pension Regulator’s automatic enrolment rules.

If you have already missed your staging date you should act quickly to avoid being named and shamed and risking a large fine.

Speak to an IRIS advisor today by calling 0344 815 5700 to see how we can help you.

IRIS has already assessed over 350,000 employees and offers automatic enrolment seminars, both online and at locations throughout the UK, to help you understand the legislation and the new IRIS AE Suite™ can simplify and automate your key automatic enrolment tasks