Payroll and labour compliance
UK payroll: PAYE, National Insurance and pensions, built in
The UK country pack runs PAYE and National Insurance on every payslip, handles student loans and pension auto-enrolment, and builds the BACS and pension files. Rates ship as a starting point that you can override, and RTI submission to HMRC stays with your filing software.
- HMRC PAYE
- National Insurance
- Student loans
- Auto-enrolment
- SSP and SMP
- National Minimum Wage
- BACS 18
Does BusinessHRM run UK payroll with PAYE and National Insurance?
Yes. The UK pack calculates cumulative PAYE from each employee's tax code for 2025-26 and 2026-27, including Scottish (S) and Welsh (C) rates, K codes, BR, D0, D1, NT, 0T and Week 1 or Month 1, and National Insurance by category letter. It deducts student and postgraduate loans, runs pension auto-enrolment, pays SSP and SMP, checks pay against the National Minimum Wage, and builds BACS 18 and PAPDIS files. It does not send RTI submissions to HMRC.
England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland
Each nation is a region. Scottish rates come from the S prefix on the tax code, and BusinessHRM warns you when an employee works in Scotland but their code has no S.
United Kingdom at a glance
- Tax years loaded
- 2025-26 and 2026-27
- Employee NI (category A)
- 8% from £12,570 to £50,270, 2% above
- Employer NI
- 15% above £5,000 a year
- Pension
- Employer at least 3%, total at least 8% of £6,240 to £50,270
- Student loans
- Plans 1, 2, 4, 5 at 9%; postgraduate 6%
- SSP / SMP 2026-27
- £123.25 a week / £194.32 a week
- Holiday
- 5.6 weeks (12.07% for irregular hours)
- RTI
- Not sent. Use your RTI filing tool
What the United Kingdom pack covers
Tax, contributions and labour rules on every pay run
PAYE with real tax codes
Cumulative PAYE for the 2025-26 and 2026-27 tax years, including Scottish and Welsh rates, K codes, BR, D0, D1, NT and 0T, and Week 1 or Month 1 emergency basis, with the 50% overriding limit.
National Insurance by category
Employee and employer NI by category letter, including freeport and investment zone letters. For 2026-27 category A that is 8% between the primary threshold and the upper limit and 2% above, and 15% employer above £5,000.
Student and postgraduate loans
Plans 1, 2, 4 and 5 at 9% and postgraduate loans at 6%, deducted on each payslip.
Pension auto-enrolment
Default 5% employee and 3% employer on qualifying earnings, eligibility by age and earnings, with opt-in and opt-out recorded per employee.
SSP and SMP
Statutory sick pay and statutory maternity pay at the 2026-27 rates.
Minimum wage, holiday and redundancy
Salaries are checked against the National Minimum Wage by age band, holiday defaults to 5.6 weeks, statutory redundancy is calculated, and bank holidays sync from GOV.UK every week.
| Age band | 2025-26 | 2026-27 |
|---|---|---|
| 21 and over | £12.21 | £12.71 |
| 18 to 20 | £10.00 | £10.85 |
| Under 18 | £7.55 | £8.00 |
Figures as loaded in the app on 3 November 2026. Each rule carries its effective dates and source, and you can override any figure from a date of your choice. Confirm them with your adviser.
| Band | Rate |
|---|---|
| Starter | 19% |
| Basic | 20% |
| Intermediate | 21% |
| Higher | 42% |
| Advanced | 45% |
| Top | 48% |
Rest of the UK and Wales use 20%, 40% and 45%. Figures as loaded in the app on 3 November 2026. Each rule carries its effective dates and source, and you can override any figure from a date of your choice. Confirm them with your adviser.
Where you set it up, and what it produces
Real screens from a demo workspace. Settings live under Settings, Country and compliance and under Payroll settings, Tax and contributions.
Statutory IDs on each employee profile
- National Insurance number
- Right to work check
- PAYE tax code
- Student or postgraduate loan plan
Stored encrypted, format-checked and masked for anyone without permission to reveal them.
Files BusinessHRM builds for a UK payroll run
- BACS 18 payment file (GBP)
- Pension contributions CSV in the PAPDIS layout
- PDF payslips with tax code, NI letter and pension lines
Files are built from a locked pay run on the Exports page. A contribution register of employee and employer amounts per scheme exports to CSV.
How to switch on the United Kingdom pack
- 1Open Settings, then Country and compliance, and choose United Kingdom (and the province, state or emirate) for the company or for each office.
- 2In Payroll settings, open Tax and contributions and switch the calculations on. They stay off until you do.
- 3Add each employee's tax inputs and statutory IDs on their profile, and override any rate the pack ships with if your adviser tells you to.
- 4Run payroll in GBP. Every payslip shows the tax and contribution lines, and the export screen builds the bank and statutory files for that run.
Not included for the UK
RTI submissions (FPS and EPS) to HMRC, and P60 or P45 documents. Use the figures from BusinessHRM in your RTI-enabled filing tool.
Not legal advice. Rules marked to verify in the app have not yet been checked against the official source.
Other country packs
- PKPakistanFBR income tax, EOBI, PESSI (Punjab)
- AEUnited Arab EmiratesWPS (SIF file), GPSSA, ADPF
- SASaudi ArabiaGOSI, SANED, WPS wages file
- USUnited StatesIRS federal withholding, FICA, FUTA
- AUAustraliaATO PAYG withholding, Superannuation guarantee, STP data
All compliance by country How the compliance engine works Payroll HR software in the UK
United Kingdom payroll compliance questions
Does BusinessHRM run PAYE and National Insurance?
Yes. The UK pack calculates cumulative PAYE from each employee's tax code, including Scottish and Welsh rates, and National Insurance by category letter for 2025-26 and 2026-27.
Does it submit RTI to HMRC?
No. BusinessHRM calculates the figures and builds the BACS and pension files, but it does not send FPS or EPS submissions. Use your RTI-enabled filing software for that step.
Does it handle pension auto-enrolment?
Yes. It assesses eligibility by age and earnings, applies default 5% employee and 3% employer contributions on qualifying earnings, and exports a PAPDIS-layout CSV for your pension provider.
Does BusinessHRM sync UK bank holidays?
Yes. Bank holidays for England and Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland sync from the GOV.UK feed every week, and there is a Sync now button.
Does it calculate statutory redundancy pay?
Yes. The separation wizard uses the statutory age bands, the weekly pay cap (£719 as loaded) and the 20-year maximum, and works out statutory notice.
Run the UK payroll with the rules built in
Start free, choose your country and region, switch on tax and contributions, and preview a pay run before anything is paid or filed.
Free forever for unlimited users. No credit card required.