On 17 June 2026, HMRC published their second Employer Bulletin of tax year 2026/27. This is published six times a year giving employers and agents payroll news and information on topics and issues that may affect them. ICB details the topics covered in this edition.
The June 2026 edition is separated into the following sections:
PAYE
This section covers the following topics:
- There is a reminder the deadline for applying or amending an existing PAYE Settlement Agreement (PSA) is 05 July 2026. Note that the PSA mailbox is closed and HMRC no longer accept PSA correspondence by E-Mail and this can only be done online or by post;
- There is a reminder the 2025/26 P11D and P11D(b) reporting deadline is 06 July 2026 (and payment of Class 1A National Insurance must be made by 19 July or 22 July if paid electronically). The importance of using the correct payment reference is covered below this section;
- There is a note that the mandatory payrolling expenses and benefits timetable has changed, something ICB has written about and will cover in July’s Wages Wednesday; and
- Remember that if you are using HMRC’s Basic PAYE Tools (BPT), you must update this for tax year 2026/27 and use the latest release
Tax Updates and Changes to Guidance
This section covers the following topics:
- The Construction Industry Scheme changes from April 2026, importantly the requirement to file nil returns or inactivity requests which can be done via the CIS online service (and some commercial CIS software may have this facility);
- Low earner’s pension payment (previously called the anomaly) whereby people earning under £12,570 and in a Net Pay Arrangement Pension Scheme will receive a payment directly from HMRC starting August 2026. These low earners will not have received Income Tax relief via payroll systems, simply because they did not earn enough to pay. The payments will be made for tax year 2024/25 and then annually for subsequent tax years. Employers do not need to take any action;
- There is another reminder that the option to pay voluntary Class 2 NICs for periods abroad has been removed (from 06 April 2026, for tax years 2026/27 onwards); and
- A correction to a 2023 article about the two forms of tax relief on pension contributions (the Net pay arrangement (NPA) and Relief at Source (RAS)). The most important thing to take from this article is not the correction but the essential obligation that payroll systems must operate the correct tax relief mechanism
General Information and Customer Support
The final section contains various pieces of information, however, as ICB has covered, the most important things are the changes for employers as a result of the Employment Rights Act 2025. These are:
- ‘Actions to take now’ – or actions that should have been undertaken such as changes to SSP; and
- The consultation on reforms of zero hours and low hour contracts
Also note the section ‘Voluntary employer action plans to address gender pay gap and support employees experiencing menopause’ which covers how employers with 250 or more employees now have the option to produce and publish a voluntary action plan alongside their gender pay gap data.
For Bookkeepers
This is a lighter version of the Employer Bulletin and does not cover anything ICB has not mentioned in the monthly Wages Wednesday webinars.