What Are the UK Payroll Year-End Tasks and the P60, P11D and P45 Deadlines?

## The short answer

UK payroll year end falls at the close of the tax year on 5 April. The key tasks are: send your **final FPS** for the year (flagged as final), issue a **P60** to every employee still employed at year end, report taxable expenses and benefits on **P11D** forms where applicable, and update your software for the new tax year's codes and thresholds. A **P45** is separate from year end — it is given to any employee whenever they leave, not just at year end. Each of these has its own deadline, and missing them can trigger penalties.

## The year-end timeline at a glance

- **On or before the last payday of the tax year:** run the final pay run and send the final FPS, marking it as the final submission for the year

- **By the end of May:** provide a P60 to every employee employed on the last day of the tax year

- **By early July (6 July):** submit P11D and P11D(b) forms for expenses and benefits, and give employees their benefit details

- **By the PAYE payment deadline in July:** pay any Class 1A National Insurance on benefits

The exact statutory dates are fixed each year, so build them into your calendar rather than relying on memory.

## The final FPS (and EPS)

Your last regular pay run of the year produces the final FPS. Some software requires you to indicate that this is the final submission for the tax year. If you have year-end adjustments — for example, recovering statutory payments or claiming Employment Allowance — you may also need a final EPS. The goal is for HMRC's year-to-date totals to exactly match your records before the year closes.

## P60: the year-end statement

A P60 summarises an employee's total pay and deductions for the tax year. You must give one to every employee who was working for you on the last day of the tax year. Employees use it to:

- Prove income for mortgages, loans or benefit claims

- Check their tax position and claim refunds if overpaid

- Complete a Self Assessment return

P60s can be issued on paper or electronically, provided employees can access and keep their copy. Leavers during the year do not get a P60; their P45 covers them.

## P11D: expenses and benefits

If you provide taxable benefits in kind — company cars, private medical insurance, interest-free loans and similar — these may need to be reported. The two forms are:

- **P11D:** reports the benefits provided to each employee

- **P11D(b):** reports the employer's Class 1A National Insurance due on those benefits

Many employers now **payroll their benefits** instead, taxing them through each pay run, which can reduce or remove the need for some P11D reporting. Either way, the employer pays Class 1A National Insurance on most benefits, with its own payment deadline in July.

## P45: for leavers, any time of year

The P45 is often confused with year-end paperwork, but it belongs to the leaver process. When an employee leaves, you produce a P45 showing their pay and tax to the leaving date and report the leaving on the FPS. The employee keeps the relevant parts to give to their next employer or to HMRC. Issuing the P45 promptly is both a legal obligation and a courtesy that helps the next employer apply the right tax code.

## Preparing for the new tax year

Year end is also a transition. Before the first pay run of the new year you should:

- Apply any new tax codes from HMRC's P9 coding notices

- Carry forward or reset codes as instructed (for example, removing week 1 / month 1 markers)

- Update thresholds, rates and allowances in your software

- Confirm pension and statutory payment settings for the new year

Applying P9 notices in the wrong period is a common slip that leaves employees on last year's code.

## Common year-end mistakes

- Forgetting to flag the **final** FPS

- Issuing P60s late or omitting employees who joined late in the year

- Missing the **P11D** deadline or under-reporting benefits

- Confusing the P45 (leavers) with the P60 (year-end employees)

- Running the first new-year pay run before applying updated codes and thresholds

Good payroll software sequences these steps, prompts for the final submission flag, generates P60s and P11Ds, and rolls thresholds forward automatically. neart.ai builds enterprise-grade products in the HR and payroll space, and the recurring observation is that year-end pressure eases dramatically when the closing tasks are checklist-driven and the new-year setup is verified before the first run.

## Practical takeaway

Treat year end as a fixed sequence: final FPS flagged correctly, P60s to all current employees by end of May, P11D and P11D(b) for benefits by early July, and Class 1A National Insurance paid on time. Keep the P45 process separate and prompt for leavers. Then prepare cleanly for the new year by applying P9 codes and updated thresholds before your first pay run.