Paying your staff early at Christmas

Yes you can pay your employees earlier than usual over the festive period but, it will be necessary to report the normal payment date on the Full Payment Submission (FPS).

HMRC have issued details of these special arrangements for reporting Christmas payroll which was introduced last year to help universal credit claimants where they are paid earlier than usual to ensure their awards are not reduced or stopped.

For example:

If you pay your employees early on 20^th December 2019 and their normal pay date is 31st December 2019, the payment would be reported as the 31st December 2019 and the Full Payment Submission (FPS) would be sent on or before the 31st December 2019. 

Please see further guidance from HMRC here. Outside of December, normal 'on-or-before' rules apply.

Date published 4 Dec 2019 | Last updated 25 Sep 2020

This article is intended to inform rather than advise and is based on legislation and practice at the time. Taxpayer’s circumstances do vary and if you feel that the information provided is beneficial it is important that you contact us before implementation. If you take, or do not take action as a result of reading this article, before receiving our written endorsement, we will accept no responsibility for any financial loss incurred.