How to Register for PAYE as an Employer: Steps and Deadlines

To register for PAYE you register as an employer with HMRC, online for most limited companies, before your first payday but no more than 2 months before you start paying people. You must register if any employee is paid £96 or more a week, gets expenses or benefits, has another job or a pension, or has received certain benefits. HMRC then posts you an employer PAYE reference and an Accounts Office reference, which you need to run payroll and pay HMRC. A limited company must register even if its only employee is a director.

When you must register as an employer

HMRC's employer guidance says you must register for PAYE if any of the following applies to an employee in the current tax year (since 6 April):

• Pay. They are paid £96 or more a week;
• Expenses and benefits. They get expenses or company benefits;
• Pension. They are getting a pension;
• Another job. They have had another job;
• Benefits. They have received Jobseeker's Allowance, Employment and Support Allowance or Incapacity Benefit.

The £96 figure matches the 2026/27 secondary threshold, the point at which employer National Insurance starts (£96 a week, £417 a month, £5,000 a year). It is lower than the 2026/27 lower earnings limit of £129 a week, so for this tax year it is the secondary threshold, not the lower earnings limit, that sets the pay trigger. Even if none of these applies, you still have to keep payroll records.

Two groups are caught that people often miss. A director who pays themselves a salary through their own company is an employee, and gov.uk says you must register "even if you're only employing yourself". A business that takes on subcontractors for construction work must also register as an employer with HMRC, even if it has no employees of its own.

How to register, step by step

1. Check the timing. Register before the first payday, but not more than 2 months before you start paying people;
2. Use the online service. Most limited companies with 1 to 9 directors can register online. The service asks early on whether at least one director has a UK National Insurance number. Other business types are directed to a different route;
3. Wait for the letter. HMRC posts the employer PAYE reference and Accounts Office reference to you, or to your accountant if they registered on your behalf;
4. Activate PAYE Online. If you registered online you are enrolled for PAYE Online automatically. HMRC posts an activation code within 10 days, and you must activate within 28 days of the date on the letter or enrol again;
5. Set up payroll software. Enter both references into your software so it can send Full Payment Submissions (FPS).

If payday arrives before the reference does

Registering late does not stop you paying staff, but it does change the reporting. HMRC's instruction is to:

• Run payroll. Calculate tax and National Insurance as normal on payday;
• Store the FPS. Keep the full payment submission you would have sent;
• Send it late. Submit it as soon as possible after the reference arrives, selecting late reporting reason code G.

The default rule under regulation 67B of the PAYE Regulations is that the FPS goes to HMRC "on or before making a relevant payment", so the late reporting reason matters. Without an accepted reason HMRC may send a penalty warning and a penalty.

What registration commits you to

Once registered, PAYE becomes a monthly routine:

• Report. Send an FPS on or before each payday, and an Employer Payment Summary for any tax month with no payments, by the 19th of the following month;
• Pay. Pay HMRC by the 22nd of the next tax month (the 19th if paying by cheque through the post). Employers expecting to pay less than £1,500 a month can ask HMRC to pay quarterly;
• Keep records. Keep payroll records for 3 years from the end of the tax year they relate to. If records are incomplete, HMRC may estimate what you owe and charge a penalty of up to £3,000;
• Year end. Complete the annual tasks, including expenses and benefits returns.

You remain legally responsible for all of this even if a bureau or accountant runs the payroll for you.

Worked example: the one-director company

A newly formed company has one director and no other staff. The director plans to take a salary of £12,570 a year, which is £1,048 a month, and dividends on top.

The salary is above the £96 weekly trigger, so the company must register. For 2026/27 £1,048 a month equals the primary threshold, so no employee National Insurance is due. It is above the £417 monthly secondary threshold, however, so employer National Insurance at 15% applies to the excess, roughly £94.65 a month.

The company cannot use the Employment Allowance (£10,500 for 2026/27) to cancel this. HMRC excludes a company whose only director is also the only employee paying secondary Class 1 contributions. Once a second employee is added to the payroll, the position can change.

Common registration mistakes

• Registering too early. HMRC says you cannot register more than 2 months before you start paying people;
• Not activating PAYE Online. An expired activation code means enrolling again, which delays access to tax code notices and your payment position;
• Mixing up the references. The employer PAYE reference goes on reports; the 13-character Accounts Office reference is the payment reference;
• Forgetting the EPS. In a tax month when nobody is paid, failing to send an Employer Payment Summary means HMRC sends an estimate of what you owe, and a penalty may follow.

Sources: gov.uk: Register as an employer; gov.uk: PAYE and payroll for employers; gov.uk: PAYE Online; gov.uk: Running payroll; HMRC: Rates and thresholds for employers 2026 to 2027; gov.uk: Employment Allowance; PAYE Regulations 2003, regulation 67B. Related guides: what is PAYE, PAYE reference explained and the Employment Allowance.

Acumon registers new employers and runs payroll from the first payday through its PAYE services and outsourced payroll, including director-only payrolls for newly formed companies.