PAYE Employer Registration: A Guide for Ltd Companies

PAYE employer registration is how a limited company registers with HMRC before it pays anyone a salary, including its own director. You must register before the first payday, and not more than 2 months before it. HMRC then posts your employer PAYE reference number, which you need to run payroll and report pay. This guide explains when a company must register, what director-only companies should do, what HMRC sends you and what happens each payday afterwards.

When Must a Company Register as an Employer?

You must register for PAYE if any of the following applies to an employee in the current tax year (since 6 April):

• they are paid £96 or more a week (2026 to 2027)
• they get expenses and company benefits
• they are getting a pension
• they have had another job
• they have received Jobseeker’s Allowance, Employment and Support Allowance or Incapacity Benefit

If none of these applies, you do not have to register, but you still need to keep payroll records. Directors count as employees of their company for PAYE: HMRC says you must register even if you are only employing yourself, for example as the only director of a limited company.

Director-Only Companies: Should You Run a Payroll?

Many owner-directors take a small salary and the rest of their income as dividends. Whether a salary makes sense, and at what level, depends on your National Insurance record, your personal tax position and the company’s profits. The 2026 to 2027 National Insurance thresholds give a sense of the numbers:

Talk to an accountant about the right salary for you. Once you decide to pay one that meets the PAYE conditions, the company needs to be registered as an employer before the first payday.

How to Register as an Employer: Step by Step

1. Decide your first payday. You can register up to 2 months before it, not earlier.
2. Gather the details: company registration number, the company’s UTR, the directors’ details including National Insurance numbers where they have them, the business address, the date of the first payday and how many people you will pay.
3. Register online. Most limited companies with 1 to 9 directors can register online with HMRC.
4. Wait for HMRC’s letter. It contains your employer PAYE reference number and the reference you use when paying HMRC (the Accounts Office reference), plus how to get a PAYE Online login.
5. Choose payroll software that can report to HMRC in real time.
6. Set up workplace pensions if you have staff who must be automatically enrolled.

What Happens Every Payday

Once registered, PAYE runs on a monthly cycle. Tax months run from the 6th of one month to the 5th of the next.

1. On or before each payday: record pay, calculate tax and National Insurance, produce payslips, and send a Full Payment Submission (FPS) to HMRC.
2. In a month with no pay: send an Employer Payment Summary (EPS) instead.
3. Pay HMRC by the 22nd of the next tax month (or the 22nd after the end of the quarter if you pay quarterly). Late payment can mean interest and penalties.
4. At the end of the tax year complete the year-end tasks your payroll software guides you through.

If you must pay someone before your PAYE reference arrives, HMRC says to run payroll, store the FPS and send it late once you have the reference.

Other Employer Duties to Set Up

Registering for PAYE is one step in HMRC’s “employ someone for the first time” checklist. Before your first employee starts, also check:

• Employment status. Make sure the person is an employee, not a contractor or freelancer, because the rules differ.
• National Minimum Wage. Check the current rates for the employee’s age.
• Workplace pensions. Eligible staff must be automatically enrolled into a workplace pension.
• Employers’ Liability insurance. Most employers need it from the day the first employee starts.
• Right to work checks before employment begins.
• Statutory pay. Sick pay, maternity and paternity pay are paid through payroll.

A company whose only employee is a director paying themselves a salary usually has fewer of these duties. Your accountant or payroll software provider can confirm which apply to you.

Common Mistakes

• Registering too early. HMRC will not register you more than 2 months before the first payday.
• Registering too late and paying salary with no PAYE reference.
• Assuming a director is not an employee. For PAYE, a salaried director is treated as one.
• Forgetting the EPS in months when no one is paid.
• Paying HMRC late. The 22nd is the deadline for electronic payments.

Do It Yourself or Use CorpAssist?

Registering yourself is free, but it means setting up HMRC online access and answering questions about the company, its directors and its first payday. Directors living outside the UK, or without a National Insurance number, often find this the hardest part.

With CorpAssist you answer one online form, a person checks it, and our team submits the employer registration to HMRC for you. It costs £59.99, and HMRC charges nothing. Submitted within 2 business days of a complete order. HMRC then posts your employer PAYE reference.

Frequently Asked Questions

Official guidance: Register as an employer (GOV.UK) and PAYE and payroll for employers. Related: VAT registration, what to do after registering a company and what a company director does.

Rules and thresholds checked against GOV.UK on 30 October 2026. This guide is general information, not tax advice. CorpAssist is an independent commercial service and is not HMRC or GOV.UK.