Payroll resources – FAQs

For any payroll related question please check our list of FAQs below

If your question doesn’t appear please get in touch as we will be happy to help. We will then add your question to this page.

Q. What is the difference between a cumulative and non-cumulative tax code?

A. A non-cumulative tax code is represented by the X at the end of the tax code. This means that tax is calculated on the gross pay earned in the current pay period only. Whereas, a cumulative tax code will assess an employee’s total gross pay for the tax year against the current point in the tax year to calculate the tax due.

Q. What is a K tax code?

A. In most cases a tax code denotes the annual amount of personal tax free allowances that an employee has in that employment. However, a K tax code adds taxable pay when calculating the PAYE deduction rather than deducting it.

Q. Is my employee entitled to Statutory Sick Pay (SSP)?

A. To qualify for SSP your employee must:

– be classed as an employee and have done some work for you

– have been ill for at least 4 days, which includes non-working days

– have earned at least £112 gross each week (this is correct up to and including the 2016-17 tax year)

– tell you that you are sick before the agreed deadline – or within seven days if you don’t have one agreed

SSP is payable for 28 weeks and is not paid to an employee whilst they are receiving Statutory Maternity Pay (SMP). If an employee isn’t eligible for SSP through the payroll they may still be able to claim Employment and Support Allowance (ESA) by completing an SSP1 form, which can be found on our Resources and Links page.

Q. Can I process a payslip for an employee that doesn't have an NI number?

A. The (very) short answer is yes.

You must obtain a National Insurance number if one is available. If the employee doesn’t have one, they must register for one as soon as possible. You can pay them and file your Real Time Information (RTI) submissions without the NI number, since it isn’t an HMRC technical requirement.

If you file an RTI submission without an NI number, HMRC will attempt to look it up and issue the relevant NI number, if found, via an electronic RTI notice. As and when your employee registers for one, HMRC may end up notifying you of the number before the employee does!

If the employee leaves before their NI number is issued, there isn’t any more that you can do and you didn’t do anything wrong. However, it is important to chase the employee for their NI number if they have one as it is imperative that you have checked they have the correct right to work.

Your payroll software may support the passport number field, which HMRC would like you to complete, if possible. However, again, it is not a mandatory requirement for filing, but it should be included where the passport number has been collected as part of the right to work checks.

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