Five Top Tips For Painless P11D Production

"Its only when things go wrong with the P11D process that companies realise the potentially astronomical costs of making mistakes," says Anne Selway, who heads up Carapeople's P11D centre of excellence in Bristol. "But every company can avoid some of the most common pitfalls if they remember five golden rules."

The Revenue Expects
"Make sure you know exactly what the Inland Revenue expects you to declare as a benefit in kind. Some things, like subsidised medical insurance and company cars are obvious. Others, like long service awards, personal use of a laptop at home or gym subscriptions, are less obvious and continue to catch companies unaware. The potential liability can be great if benefits are misreported. To simplify the P11D process, Carapeople has produced a checklist that covers 49 different areas, and over 100 benefits; all of which need to be considered when assessing and collating the information you need to correctly complete a P11D submission."

Keep On Track
"Set a timetable and stick to it. Don't wait until the last minute to get the information you need from the various different sources. If you outsource production, make sure your supplier stays close to you as deadlines approach. We normally send regular e-mail updates and follow these up with face to face meetings if clients wish. Tell your outsourcer in advance if you need customised reports, and how you want them delivered. If P11D production is being handled by your existing payroll outsourcer much of the information required will be on their systems helping you to deliver data on time and in the right format."

Take Responsibility
"One main point of contact at a client company is far better for both parties. Often, delays can be put down to no one individual being prepared to take responsibility for the quality of data and adherence to deadlines. Someone in charge of the overall process is good, with a nominated deputy to cover holiday periods and sickness."

Don't Wait Until The Beginning Of April To Start.
"There's a lot a company can do before the end of the tax year to make P11D production easier. For instance, changes to company cars now not only have to be notified on a quarterly basis, by P46, but the taxation regime has shifted to one based on CO2 emissions. Companies that don't get on top of this as the changes are happening will be in difficulty at the end of 2002/2003. There are many ways in which a company like Carapeople can help. Our systems can tell the CO2 emission statistics and tax band a car falls into simply by typing in its registration number. One company, with 700 cars and vans on its fleet had terrible trouble delivering the required information on time last year. So, as soon as last year's P11Ds were submitted, we began work on the next set establishing a year round relationship."

Oh, And One Last Thing
"Don't forget dispensations. Some companies are able to negotiate P11D dispensations with their Tax Office which means that, so long as an individual doesn't exceed a certain agreed amount for hotel accommodation, the use of a company car for private mileage and the like, there is no perceived benefit. Nothing has to be declared on the P11D and employees don't have to declare a figure on their self-assessment forms. Carapeople can help companies renew or apply for dispensations and so cut down the amount of time and effort needed to produce P11Ds."