Employers should continue to submit their data as normal.

This July will see HM Revenue & Customs introducing a major IT upgrade.

 The new PAYE Service will create one single record of an individual’s PAYE pay and tax and National Insurance details, enabling HMRC to deal with enquiries at the first point of contact.

Currently, personal tax records are held over 12 regional databases.

The new PAYE System will bring together all this information, creating one single record of an individual’s pay and tax details, however many jobs or pensions they may have.

This will enable HMRC to view and amend an individual’s record no matter where they are employed in the UK and, as a result, deal with enquiries at the first point of contact and manage peaks and troughs in demand more effectively.

HMRC plan to deliver these improvements this summer and they will continue to keep agents and employers updated through their Internet site www.hmrc.gov.uk as plans develop.

Temporary service interruption

To introduce the new PAYE system, there will be a temporary period of planned service interruption from 12 June 2009. This will extend beyond the immediate introduction of the new system while HMRC update outstanding records.

HMRC will work hard to deliver normal levels of service during this time and HMRC will do everything it can to minimise any inconvenience, but delays may be experienced in the response to enquiries and/or correspondence in respect of individual employees, including where it relates to information held on HMRC’s National Insurance computer system.

HMRC have consulted employer representatives and organisations which advise and support individual taxpayers, including those representing vulnerable groups. Only a small proportion of PAYE customers will feel any impact from the interruption to HMRC’s service and many customer enquiries can still be dealt with using a ‘read-only’ version of the current system. HMRC will still be able to provide general advice and guidance but will be unable to answer specific questions regarding individual National Insurance records or the most recent PAYE changes.

There will also be a corresponding temporary effect on the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) operations as well. However, arrangements are in place within DWP to ensure payment to new and existing customers is maintained throughout the period of interruption.

Employers should continue to submit their data as normal. HMRC will store both online and paper submissions until they can be processed on the new PAYE Service system.

Please note however employers will be unable to submit forms:

    * P11D, P35 and P14 between 18:00 and 23:00 on 19 June
    * between 20:00 on 12 June and 04:00 on 13 June response messages for P11Ds will not be sent
    * all other online submissions will be validated as normal. Data that fails the online validation checks will be rejected and returned to employers as now

The CIOT will be participating in weekly phone-ins with HMRC, where we will have the opportunity to provide feedback on any issues arising from the transfer to the new PAYE Service. If members experience any difficulties during the transitional period from 12 June, or after the new service goes live in early July, please let us know. Comments can be emailed to This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it with ‘PAYE Service – FAO Matthew Brown’ in the subject line.