HMRC Has Updated Its Starter Checklist For New Employees Without P45

HMRC Has Updated It’s “Starter Checklist” for New Employees without P45 HM Revenues and Customs have recently updated their Starter Checklist for new employees without access to a P45.

In the past, not having your P45 to hand upon taking on new employment could be a real headache, but as of 8th April this year the government have introduced an updated version of their Starter Checklist – in order to try and help ease the transition further for both employer and employee.

In this article we’ll take a look at what the changes involve and how they affect both employees and employers.

Employers can utilise this new and improved Stater Checklist to aid them in gathering all the necessary information for any new employees who are yet to receive their P45 from previous employers. This is beneficial for a number of reasons, but mainly in helping the employer collate everything they will need to state on their new starters Full Payment Submission. A Full Payment Submission must be completed for any new members of staff and submitted to cover the new employee’s first installation of wages.

There are also, however, benefits to the employee from this latest update. Namely, if the said new starters previous employer is yet to furnish them with their P45 form, in time to submit to their new employer prior to their first wage payment, HMRC’s new Starter Checklist will also be able to aid in determining the correct PAYE tax code to be use for their first wage payment. Better still, with the Starter Checklist having now replaced the redundant P46 form – new starters will no longer be obliged to complete this replacement form in the absence of their P45, and should be able to move more seamlessly between employment opportunities.

Making things much simpler than the long winded filling out of hard copy forms, for both employer and employee, the new Starter Checklist can be completed entirely online; ready to be downloaded, saved and printed out for use. Although, there is the option to print out the form for completion should this be your preferred method.

At no point does the completed Starter Checklist need to be sent out to HMRC – this is for internal use only and should be kept with the rest of your employee’s new starter documents. It is advised that these forms are then kept on file for the next three tax years in case reference should ever need to be made to them.

It’s also worth knowing, that employers are expected to be able to verify the completed Starter Checklist form or submitted P45. Documents which are acceptable to confirm a new starter’s identity, current address and national insurance number include; passports, birth certificates, driving licenses and recent utility bills. This was a necessary requirement prior to the updated Starter Checklist and so, all in all, HMRC’s intended purpose (to aid both employer and employee towards a smooth transition) has been achieved and both parties should find the new system much more straight forward.