HMRC have published the new RTI data fields to facilitate the payrolling of the benefits included in Phase 1 from April 2027. ICB highlights the ones that will apply to medical benefit which is one of the most common benefits reported via the current P11D process.
ICB has highlighted that Phase 1 of payrolling taxable expenses and benefits will commence in April 2027 and require new RTI data fields. As a reminder, Phase 1 will mandate the following benefits that will have to be processed through the payroll:
- Company cars and fuel;
- Company vans and fuel; and
- Private medical (health and dental etc)
In addition, this will require the real-time calculation and payment of Class 1A NICs.
HMRC have published the RTI data fields for 2027/28 and ICB highlights the medical benefit ones and, possibly, considerations at this stage:
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Data item
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Description
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Value to be included
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Comment
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290
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Cost to employer or Amount Forgone
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The annual cost to the employer for the duration of the policy
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This is the annual cost for the benefit year which may not align to the tax year. So, for example, a policy may run from 01 January to 31 December and this is the value to enter. If the benefit provider gives a part-year value, say for new starters, this is the value to enter. If the benefit is provided via an Optional Remuneration Arrangement (OpRA), this amount should be entered if this is higher than the benefit
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291
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Pay period value
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The per-pay-period taxable value
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Which may not be the same as the above field divided by the pay frequency (52 / 53 / 12 etc)
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292
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Year-to-date value
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The year-to-date accumulation of the above field
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E.g. month 1 + month 2 + month 3 etc
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For Bookkeepers
It will all be about timely and accurate data gathering and populating software.
Note that there is a significant difference between the annual value for the benefit year and the amount that is taxable each pay period. As Wages Wednesdays have pointed out, this highlights that the benefit year and the tax year may not always be aligned. This is complicated if the benefit is provided via an OpRA (salary sacrifice).