It is a reality for payroll departments that, sometimes, they are not always advised of a new starter until after payroll cut-off. Operationally (and depending on the values involved), they will pay the amount due but not paid as backpay in the following pay period, together with the employee’s regular salary.
‘Mistimed’ Payments
HMRC and legislation refer to this as making a mistimed payment, changing the way National Insurance contributions (NICs) are calculated:
Example 1: Pay Subject to NICs
An employee starts on 9 September on a salary of £24,000, paid monthly. Payroll is not advised in time for September’s processing, and the employee is paid in October:
- £1,538.46 (for the period 9 to 30 September) as backpay; plus
- £2,000.00 (for 1 to 31 October);
- So gross pay is £3,538.46.
The Social Security (Contributions) Regulations 2001/1004, reg 7 requires September’s backpay to be treated as a mistimed payment, i.e., a payment that ‘is made otherwise than at the regular interval’. The same legislation requires such a mistimed payment ‘shall be treated as if it were a payment made at that regular interval’.
Mistimed Payments and NICs Calculations
So, even though £3,538.46 is paid in one pay reference period, for NICs calculation purposes, it is to be treated as if it had been paid over two as follows: Example 2: The NICs calculation In the payroll system, NICs must be calculated each month separately as follows:
- September (month 6) £1,538.46; and
- October (month 7) £2,000.00.
The effect is that the NICs thresholds (lower, primary, secondary and upper earnings) apply in each month, which is financially beneficial for the employee and employer. However, it is essential for reporting to HMRC (via the full payment submission (FPS)) to maintain entitlement to contributory entitlements, for example the state pension and maternity allowance. This would not happen if NICs were calculated on total earnings paid in month 7. So, there are two common themes to mistimed payments:
- They apply when the payment is regular, contrasting with a payment that is irregular (e.g., overtime).
- They apply only when a payment was due, but nothing was paid on the normal payday (the week or month, etc.).
If the mistimed payment happens to span tax years (e.g., the months in the example were changed to March and April), NICs are calculated at the rates and thresholds in force at the date of payment (i.e., April in this example).
Other Mistimed Payment Situations
Whilst the mistimed payment situation applying to new starters is by far the most common and, equally, the least appreciated, HMRC’s CWG2 guidance at section 3.2 sets out the situation where two separate weeks’ wages are paid together because the employee submits their timesheets late. This is another case of employees not receiving their regular payment on their regular payday.HMRC’s National Insurance Manual at NIM808700 states that a mistimed payment situation may arise if the employee is not paid on their regular payday because it was a non-banking day (e.g., a weekend or Bank Holiday). Whilst the guidance in NIM states this is a mistimed payment, the CWG2 operational guidance (at paragraph 1.8) states that the payment should be treated as if it had been made on the correct date. This mirrors the treatment for income tax collected via PAYE and RTI, which requires the FPS to show the regular payday as the payment date on the FPS.
Mistimed Payments Vs Aggregated Payments
The two should not be confused. A situation requiring the aggregation of earnings for the calculation of NICs is where, for example, the employee has more than one employment with the same employer – maybe they are an accountant for two days of the week and a payroll administrator for three days of the week.
Practical Tip
We depend on payroll software, yet this is only as good as the information provided and its functionality. For starters and the mistimed payment, the software will have to have some sort of ‘does any of this payment relate to a different tax period?’ functionality asking for the amount.