In addition to paying employees their basic pay, and other pay-related items such as overtime and bonuses, it is not uncommon for employers to provide benefits and reimburse business expenses. See Simon’s Taxes E4.601.

Unless there is an exemption in the legislation, the value of these benefits and expenses needs to be reported to HMRC at year-end so that tax and Class 1A NIC can be collected. Class 1A NIC is an employer-only charge (there is no corresponding employee NIC charge) on benefits and expenses that have not been subject to Class 1 NIC through the payroll. See Simon’s Taxes Divisions E4.6, E4.7 and E4.11.

For a client factsheet which summarises the PAYE implications of benefits reporting, see the Client factsheet ― benefits reporting.