HMRC P11D notice

HMRC have sent the following note to BUFDG in relation to the submission of forms P11D for the 20/21 tax year:

Supporting employers to move to online reporting

The deadline for reporting any Expenses and Benefits in Kind is 6 July 2021. Employers need to do this for each employee they’ve provided with expenses or benefits.

HMRC’s preferred method of reporting all employee expenses and benefits is online rather than use paper. Customers planning to file paper returns for 20/21 are encouraged to move away from paper and use online services.

You can do this, using:

• Third party software (you may need to upgrade, if your current package doesn’t have the facility to report expenses and benefits)
  
• HMRC online services - this will allow up to 500 submissions
  

What to do if you are unable to use either of these facilities and are still planning to file paper returns:

If the above two options are not available, we may be able to help by offering a special arrangement which was used for some of our customers last year to facilitate a transfer of the data into HMRC using a specific spreadsheet format. Last year some customers took up our offer to use an alternative spreadsheet method which we transferred into HMRC via a Secure File Transfer Protocol (SFTP). This was an ad-hoc arrangement and is not intended as the norm going forwards.

• If this method is not acceptable for security reasons, we can discuss alternatives.
  
• This service will only be considered for ‘large volume’ paper filers e.g. 500 employees plus, and unable to use HMRC online services.
  

If this service is required, please email the HFE sector mailbox by 28th May 2021.

Moving to a digital submission for the 2020/21 P11D returns should be seen as encouragement to making a move to payrolling expenses and benefits in future years. Payrolling is the favoured HMRC method of reporting as outlined in the latest Employer Bulletin: Employer Bulletin: April 2021  – an extract from this is also reproduced below which highlights the HMRC view that paper returns are considered to be generally unacceptable:

For those employers on the Legacy P11D Process

The deadline for reporting any legacy P11D Expenses and Benefits in Kind is 6 July 2021. You need to do this for each employee you’ve provided with expenses or benefits.

How to report

Please note, HMRC considered submission of these on paper to be generally unacceptable. We are maintaining a paper process for those who cannot yet file online and have not yet moved to Payrolling. You can use any of the following digital, quick and easy methods:

commercial payroll software
HMRC’s PAYE Online service
HMRC’s Online End of Year Expenses and Benefits service

Online filing is quicker and easier. It’s also more secure and the software can tell you straightaway if you have made any common errors. If you cannot use any of the above use our official legacy forms P11D and P11D(b). If your report is late, your employees could pay the wrong amount tax and be out of pocket.