If the employee has a P45 from their previous employment, then this will have many of the necessary details to get them set up on your payroll, but you may need to ask them to complete a new starter checklist if:

• they have a student loan (as the P45 won’t tell you which plan type they are repaying);
• they don’t have a P45;
• their details have changed since their last P45; or
• they have been sent to work in the UK temporarily by an overseas employer.

The new starter checklist is now available online, allowing a new employee to answer a series of questions and select the appropriate answers to their circumstances and get access to interactive guidance to help them. Once the employee has completed the questions, this will produce a new starter declaration which can be downloaded and emailed or posted to you as the employer.   

While this should make the process of completing a new starter checklist easier for many employees, the new service does require the employee to set up a Government Gateway account in order to access the form. If they already have a Personal Tax Account (PTA) then they will already have a username and password to access the Government Gateway which they can use to log in here. However, not all employees will be able to set up a Government Gateway account. This could be because they are unable to verify their identity online (a quite common occurrence, particularly for school leavers or graduates in their first job) or because they are not confident with computers. These employees should complete a copy of the paper version of the checklist instead.

HMRC have told us that they received nearly three million RTI submissions for new starters with discrepancies in 2021/22 so they are keen for all employers and employees to use the updated new starter checklist to avoid errors. HMRC hope that the new guidance will help to reduce postage costs, avoid incorrect tax being applied, and save time for both employees and employers – as well as reducing the need to contact HMRC.  

PAYE Codes for new starters

It is common for PAYE codes in the early weeks or months of a new job to need adjustment. This is not something that an employer can do as only HMRC can adjust a PAYE code.

If a new employee queries whether or not their PAYE code is appropriate, then you might want to direct them to the Check your Income Tax Online service, which will allow them to tell HMRC about changes that might affect their PAYE code. However, this again will only work for employees who already have, or can set up, a Government Gateway account. Employees who cannot do this will need to ring HMRC.