On 10 December 2025, HMRC published their latest Employer Bulletin. Published six times a year, this gives employers and agents payroll news and information on topics and issues that may affect them.
We highlight some of the topics covered in the December 2025 edition:
PAYE
This section covers the following topics:
- The first topic covers the Student and Postgraduate Loan thresholds for tax year 2026/27. The important point to note is the introduction of the new Plan 5 and how this means the Starter Checklist needs to be revised. Via a separate article, ICB has already made available the new version, as employer own versions will also need to be revised;
- The next topic is about changes to IR35 rules from April 2026 which, simply, mean the employer is responsible for making sure the rules are followed when an umbrella company employs workers and they are the end user. From April 2026, if HMRC believe Income Tax, National Insurance and Apprenticeship Levy calculations are not made by the umbrella company (as they should be), the employer / end user will become responsible. The message for end users of workers is to check that the agency supplying the worker is treating them correctly for employment purposes;
- The Bulletin also reminds employees about the ways that an employee can trace their National Insurance Number via HMRC’s online service. Whilst it is in the individual’s own interest to provide this, it is helpful for members to be able to point them in this direction, always stressing how important it is for them;
- There is a reminder that employers must keep their PAYE Settlement Agreement (PSA) details up to date with HMRC. Not only is this relevant for the items covered by a PSA but it is also important for details such as company name and address;
- HMRC advise they have sent out the first tranche of penalties to employers who failed to comply with deadlines for submissions of P11D and P11D(b) for the tax year ending 05 April 2025. Outstanding returns, if any, can still be sent via commercial software or HMRC’s PAYE Online service (for up to 500 employees);
- There is a section entitled ‘Clarifying the Optional Remuneration Arrangement rules at section 228A ITEPA’ which is reference to the Income Tax (Earnings and Pensions) 2003 legislation. This does not clarify the rules and it is better to refer to the Employment Income manual page 44131 which does say that, despite advertisements you may have seen, schemes such as those offering grocery vouchers do not meet the criteria for Income Tax and National Insurance Contributions reliefs
Tax Updates and Changes to Guidance
This section contains the following sections:
- A reminder for taxpayers and their agents that Income Tax refunds are no longer issued automatically and action needs to be taken to claim this, perhaps by downloading the HMRC app making an application this way;
- There is a link to HMRC’s interim guidance on the payrolling of expenses and benefits from April 2027, something ICB and their Wages Wednesdays webinars have pointed members to;
- HMRC points to the UK Budget 2025 announcement of the 2029 cap on salary sacrifice into pension schemes. The section points to HMRC’s guidance ‘Changes to salary sacrifice for pensions from April 2029’ and the fact that, although National Insurance relief will be capped at £2,000, the total amount sacrificed will need to be reported via payroll software. Understandably, consultations will take place to figure out how this will work in practice;
- There is a section that confirms the announcement of Investment Zone special tax sites in Wales. These are at in Wrexham and Flintshire
General Information and Customer Support
The final section includes various pieces of information which may be of interest, including:
- If you are advance funding for Statutory Maternity, Paternity, Adoption or Shared Parental Pay, note that the Bulletin advises employers will now have to quote an E-Mail address on applications;
- If you are waiting for a Construction Industry Scheme repayment, HMRC say that they are aware of ‘a combination of factors’ that is leading to delays in processing them. They apologise and advise they have taken action to speed up the process
For bookkeepers
ICB continues to promote this bi-monthly publication, even though the contents may have been covered on our monthly Wages Wednesdays webinars.
