Year-end dates for the 2025-26 tax year
- Final FPS
- On or before the last payday of the tax year (GOV.UK: payroll annual reporting)
- Update payroll records and software
- From 6 April (GOV.UK)
- P60 to each employee
- By 31 May 2026 (GOV.UK: give employees a P60)
- P11D and P11D(b) to HMRC, copies to employees
- By 6 July 2026 (GOV.UK: deadlines)
- Class 1A National Insurance paid
- Received by 22 July 2026, or 19 July by post (GOV.UK)
- PAYE Settlement Agreement tax and Class 1B
- By 22 October 2026, or 19 October by cheque (GOV.UK)
The year-end sequence
Run the last pay run of the year
Send the final FPS on or before the last payday and answer Yes to the final submission for year field (GOV.UK: send your final payroll report).
Send an EPS if the final FPS did not close the year
An EPS is needed if the final FPS did not say Yes in that field, the software has no such field, nobody was paid in the last pay period, or the final FPS went early and whole tax months followed with no pay (GOV.UK).
Correct errors
Up to 19 April, send an additional FPS with the corrected figures and 0 in the payment field. From 20 April, an FPS for the year just ended corrects it using year-to-date figures (GOV.UK).
Give P60s
Every employee on the payroll on 5 April gets a P60 by 31 May, on paper or electronically (GOV.UK). See P60 and P45.
Report benefits and pay Class 1A
File P11Ds for benefits that were not payrolled and the P11D(b) by 6 July, and pay the Class 1A by 22 July (GOV.UK). See P11D and Class 1A.
Setting up the new tax year
HMRC's P9X for 2026 to 2027 gives a personal allowance of £12,570 for the whole of the UK, a PAYE starting point of £242 a week or £1,048 a month, and an emergency code of 1257L for all employees.
For employees with no new code from HMRC, the P9X says to copy the authorised code from the 2025 to 2026 record and keep using it. Week 1 and month 1 markings are not carried over. For employees with a new code, use the P9(T) or online coding notice with the latest date and scrap earlier ones.
HMRC's records guidance also says HMRC sends a P9X with general changes for codes ending L, M or N, and a P9T for any employee who needs a new code.
An employee who leaves before 6 April keeps the old code for payments made after 6 April. Payments made after a P45 has been issued use 0T on a non-cumulative basis, or S0T or C0T for Scottish or Welsh codes (P9X).
New rates for 2026-27
The software needs the 2026-27 figures from HMRC's rates and thresholds for employers. Among them: the primary threshold is £12,570 a year, the secondary threshold £5,000, the upper earnings limit £50,270, employee Class 1 is 8% between the primary threshold and the upper earnings limit and 2% above it, and employer Class 1 is 15% above the secondary threshold. See directors' National Insurance for how the annual figures work.
Questions
Does an employee who left during the year get a P60?
No. A P60 goes to employees working for the employer on 5 April (GOV.UK). A leaver received a P45 when they left.
Is a P11D needed for benefits that were payrolled?
No P11D is needed for payrolled benefits, but the P11D(b) is still filed for the Class 1A (GOV.UK: payrolling).
How long must payroll records be kept?
The current year and the 3 following tax years (GOV.UK: get employee information).
What if nobody was paid in the last month of the tax year?
There is no final FPS to mark. Send an EPS to close the year (GOV.UK: send your final payroll report).
When can the first FPS for 2026-27 be sent?
Not before March. HMRC's reporting guidance says reports for a new tax year cannot be filed before then, and an early FPS must be corrected if anything changes.
When should payroll software be updated?
From 6 April, or earlier if the software provider asks (GOV.UK: payroll annual reporting). The update brings in the new year's rates, thresholds and tax tables.
In Accountin
In Accountin, payroll produces each employee's P60 to print, and the P11D page works out the P11D(b) and the Class 1A with the dates to file and pay. The files pass HMRC's 2026-27 schemas, and sending them to HMRC switches on once HMRC has issued Accountin its vendor ID and a submission has been accepted by HMRC's test service.
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