You have certain legal duties towards your employees, which include giving an itemised pay statement and deducting tax and national insurance contributions from salaries and wages. Proper records need to be kept and the HMRC will send you forms to complete. You must keep the following information for all employees:

• name and address
• national insurance number
• PAYE reference number
• pay
• pension deductions
• any other deductions authorised by the employee.

The actual wages record needs to show the payments made:

• gross pay, with a breakdown of how this is made up, for example, bonuses and commission, as well as basic wage
• pension contributions
• total pay this period
• total pay to date
• tax-free pay to date (see tables from HMRC)
• taxable pay to date
• tax due to date (see tables from HMRC)
• tax paid to date
• tax due on earnings for this period
• employee’s national insurance contributions this period
• other deductions
• net pay
• employer’s national insurance contribution.