National Insurance Numbers

The December 2003 issue of the Inland Revenue Notes for Software Developers included a set of tables that showed how employers should complete Revenue forms that ask for an employee's NI number but the employer does not know it. With the single exception of form P38A, the traditional "TN" temporary number must not be used.

We queried with the Inland Revenue the instructions given for completion of form P46(Car) when it is completed using the Revenue's PAYE Internet submission facilities. The instructions state that "a valid NI number must be used". What happens if, for example, at the time that a new car is issued to an employee, the employer does not know the employee's NI number?

The Inland Revenue's reply confirmed that, when sending form P46(Car) over the Internet, a valid NI number must be entered. In contrast, when filing the form by EDI, an entry of "None" is acceptable. The Revenue believes that not having an NI number for an employee to whom a company car is being issued "would be very exceptional" and suggests that the employer "could take advantage of our NINO Tracing and Verification service".
...back to 20 February 2004

National Insurance Numbers

The Inland Revenue's list of valid NI Number prefixes, reproduced in the latest NI Guidance for Software Developers for 2003, shows that prefix PJ is now current and is expected to be issued until Spring 2004 at the earliest. Beyond that, codes starting PK will be introduced. Prefix SE is planned for introduction from early 2004.

Computerised payroll software is expected to check that NI numbers entered into the system are in the correct format. They should only start with one of the prefixes in the Revenue's list. (Source: www.inlandrevenue.gov.uk/ebu/ni2003.pdf)
...back to 14 November 2003

Inland Revenue Personal Reference

The existence of a personal reference number that is used in the Revenue's databases was "leaked" in August 2002 when they appeared, apparently accidentally, instead of NI numbers on some forms issued to employers. Information about the intended use of IRPR numbers has now been provided by the Revenue.

An IRPR number is not a replacement for an NI number. The Revenue's instructions are clearly that employers should make every effort to obtain an NI number for all employees, using the tracing procedures where necessary. If the Revenue is unable to trace or verify an employee's NI number immediately, the employer will be given the IRPR number to use in the meantime. The Revenue will send the employer the correct NI number as soon as it is confirmed and the employer should update the employee's record and start using the NI number instead of the IRPR number.

The IRPR number has eight characters, 2 numbers, 1 letter, and 5 numbers, e.g. 48G12345. All payroll systems must be capable of recording these numbers from the 2004/05 tax year, (see item Quality standards for electronic end-of-year returns), although the Revenue has not yet confirmed when in that tax year the IRPR number will start to be issued. The Revenue's guidance is that it would prefer payroll systems to record the IRPR number in a separate field to the NI number.

At the end of the tax year, a P14 that is filed electronically will be rejected if it does not show an NI number, an IRPR number, or the employee's date of birth and sex.
(Source: IR Notes for Payroll Software Developers)
...back to April 18 2003

Tracing NI numbers

Form CA6855, used to initiate an NI number trace, now has spaces for entering details for up to six difference employees. It is available to order (08457 646646), or it can be downloaded from www.inlandrevenue.gov.uk/pdfs/emp2002/ca6855.pdf .

As explained in booklet E13 Day-to-day payroll, if an employer wishes to trace NI numbers for many employees, a schedule may be prepared instead, showing the same items of information about each employee as is required when completing form CA6855.
Payroll Briefing 9 - 24 October 2002

Temporary NI numbers

The Revenue has apologised in its latest Employer's Bulletin for the issuing of forms P46-5, at the end of August, that provided an NI number for employees that bore no resemblance to the format used for NI numbers or for the temporary numbers used by most computerised payroll systems.

Temporary NI numbers used in payroll systems have the same format as proper NI numbers, i.e. two letters, followed by six numbers, with one letter at the end. Where the real number is not known, the temporary number starts with TN, followed by the employee's date of birth, followed by F or M depending on the employee's sex. Although these temporary numbers are commonly generated automatically by payroll systems, the Revenue's instructions are that they should not be used on any paper forms or returns that are sent to the Revenue, whether handwritten or printed out by the computer.

The reason is that the temporary numbers used by the Revenue in their own computer systems have a different format, i.e. two numbers, followed by a letter, followed by five numbers, e.g. 12A34567. Apparently, it was while the Revenue was updating its computer systems that these temporary numbers were printed in error on some P46-5 forms instead of the full NI number.

Although the Employer's Bulletin article indicated that the Revenue intends to consult on the introduction of these new format temporary numbers with a view to introducing them from 2004/05, there was no clear indication that they will not appear again on documents in the meantime. There have already been reports that some documents continue to show the new format numbers.
Payroll Briefing 9 - 24 October 2002