HMRC’s February 2026 Employer Bulletin

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On 11 February 2026, HMRC published their latest Employer Bulletin. This is published six times a year giving employers and agents payroll news and information on topics and issues that may affect them.

We highlight some of the topics covered in the edition. 

PAYE 

This section covers the following topics:

  • HMRC’s free Basic PAYE Tools software will be updated at the end of March to support the new tax year.  This is for use for by employers with fewer than 10 employees and, if used, must show version 26.0 as a reference;
  • The second topic advises that a third-party awards Taxed Award Scheme (TAS) arrangement must be agreed by 06 April 2026 for tax year 2025/26;
  • The third topic covers the State Pension age increases from 66 to 67 for men and women born between 06 April 1960 and 05 March 1961.  This commences from April 2026 up to March 2028 and there are links to the ‘Check your State Pension age’ calculator and Gov.UK guidance ‘What to do when an employee reaches State Pension age’;
  • The next topic is entitled ‘Payrolling benefits in kind — important dates’, however, this does not contain any information that has not been relayed by the monthly Wages Wednesday webinars.  It does remind readers of the deadline to voluntarily payroll for tax year 2026/27 and how once this has passed, employers and agents will not be able to use this tool.  ICB wants to remind members that clients should only register if they are able to provide taxable expenses and benefits information in real-time, otherwise this will not work.  PLUS, voluntary payrolling will not be the same as mandatory payrolling from April 2027.  HMRC have published guidance which they are calling ‘interim’ which means it is incomplete;
  • The next section details the P11D and P11D(b) reporting deadlines for tax year 2025/26 and highlights some of the common errors;
  • ICB have communicated about the new Student Loan Plan type 5 from April 2025.  February 2026’s Employer Bulletin also covers this.  It says the new Starter Checklist will be published ‘in March 2026’.  ICB has made this available to members ahead of this date and it is important employers update their own versions ahead of the start of the new tax year;
  • The next section details how the electronic payment deadline falls on a weekend in both February and March 2026.  Remember that funds must be cleared at HMRC by the deadline day, therefore, employers will have to make their payments earlier unless paying by Faster Payments;
  • The next section reminds readers the final Full Payment Submission (FPS) or Employer Payment Summary (EPS) must include the ‘final submission’ indicator.  This is required to tell HMRC’s systems that all submissions have been made for the tax year (in this case 2025/26);
  • There is a reminder that employment law changes in Northern Ireland mean Statutory Parental Bereavement Leave is extended to bereavements before the 24th week of pregnancy.  Further, Statutory Parental Bereavement Pay will become a day one right which means the criterion of service and actual earnings are removed.  This will not apply to employees with a contract under Great British employment law legislation;
  • The last PAYE section deals with company cars provided to employees in the motor industry (engineers) and those used as courtesy cars (by salespeople).  There are pointers to HMRC’s guidance in the Employment Income Manual on whether these are considered a benefit-in-kind or not

Tax Updates and Changes to Guidance

This section covers the following topics that may be relevant to members: 

  • HMRC’s new publication ‘Transfer a business out of a company’ which is about the disincorporation of company and when it is transferred to different ownership;
  • The change to voluntary National Insurance contributions for periods spent abroad and the changes from April 2026 (for tax years 2026/27 onwards);
  • National Insurance contributions relief for hiring veterans which to continues until April 2028, at which time it will be abolished;
  • The new Guidelines for Compliance (GfC) 15 ‘Help with Investment Zones’

General Information and Customer Support 

The final section starts with information on the implementation of the huge employment law reforms contained in the Employment Rights Act 2025.  It contains links to a new ‘employment rights: guidance for businesses and workers’ website.  However, whilst this does provide information and a timeline for implementation, it does not state that the 2025 Act applies in Great Britain only or, more correctly, for things that are not devolved to Northern Ireland.

The section also includes information on: 

  • The UK-wide Statutory Sick Pay (SSP) reforms; and
  • The tax code changes that will apply for recovery of Winter Fuel Payments.  The important point here is that tax code notifications will be issued from April 2026 where a recovery is to be made.  So, HMRC’s annual coding run in February and March 2026 will advise tax codes that do not include this adjustment

For Bookkeepers

There is lots of information in this final bi-monthly Bulletin of 2025/26.  As always, ICB continues to promote it and ensure anything relevant to members in their work will also be covered in the monthly Wages Wednesdays webinars. 

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