Changes to HMRC New Starter Checklist for PAYE

HMRC have made an update to the new starter checklist which incorporates changes to existing questions and a restructured form. 

We have updated our new starter form to include these changes, and have also migrated old forms to use the new structure. It's important you read this notice as it explains how the previous form answers have been migrated to show on the new structure checklists.

List of Changes

1. Some of the previous questions that workers may have answered are no longer included. These previous questions can still be viewed in reports but will be permanently removed in 6 months; 

2. Within the new form structure, question 9 now incorporates several of the previous questions in the old form, in order to provide an answer which states whether the worker should be paying a loan or not. For example, questions such as whether the worker is paying directly to the Student Loans Company or whether they completed their course in the previous tax year;

3. Undergraduate and post-graduate loans are no longer addressed separately. Workers can state which loans apply to them in question 10.

Migration of Old New Starter Checklists

Old new starter checklists have been migrated to use the new format. The new question 9 includes multiple statements, of which if any apply to the worker, then they are not deemed to have their Student Loan deductions taken from their PAYE payments.

The following logic has been applied to the old forms, in order to determine whether the worker must have loan deductions:

• "Do you have a student loan which is not fully repaid?" was answered No;

• An undergraduate loan is unpaid, but the worker has answered Yes to "Are you repaying your student loan direct to the Student Loan Company by monthly payments?" or has answered No to "Did you finish your studies before the last April 6th?";

• "Do you have a post-graduate loan which is not fully repaid?" was answered No;

• The post-graduate loan is unpaid, but the worker has answered Yes to "Are you repaying your post-graduate loan direct to the Student Loan company by monthly Direct Debit?" or answered No to "Did you complete or leave your postgraduate studies before last April 6th?"

Additionally, the worker's option for Plan 1 Student Loan or Plan 2 Student Loan will show in question 10. If they had chosen a postgraduate loan it will also show in the post-graduate loan in question 10. Question 10 may include both a plan 1/2 and a post-graduate loan now.

Since the new Plan 4 Student Loan was not previously an option, no records will show these as active in question 10.

Be Part of Future Developments

At Timesheet Portal, we are always looking for ways to give our clients as much value as we can. All of our updates and changes begin with you. Therefore, if you have any complaints, suggestions or would just like to provide feedback - we are waiting to hear from you.