These statistics are for tax year 1990 to 1991, to tax year 2018 to 2019.

For previous years please see the National Archives website.

These statistics are for tax year 1999 to 2000, to tax year 2018 to 2019.

For previous years please see the National Archives website.

Main features of Income Tax (1948-present) and National Insurance contributions (1975-present).

You can find all tables for previous years on the National Archives website.

These statistics are for tax year 1990 to 1991, to tax year 2017 to 2018.

For previous years please see the National Archives website.

Overview

ATED is an annual tax payable mainly by companies that own UK residential property valued at more than £500,000.

You’ll need to complete an ATED return if your property:

• is a dwelling
• is in the UK
• was valued at more than:
  • £2 million on 1 April 2012, or at acquisition if later, for returns from 2013 to 2014 onwards
  • £1 million on 1 April 2012, or at acquisition if later, for returns from 2015 to 2016 onwards
  • £500,000 on 1 April 2012, or at acquisition if later, for returns from 2016 to 2017 onwards
• is owned completely or partly by a:
  • company
  • partnership where one of the partners is a company
  • ­collective investment scheme – for example a unit trust or an open ended investment vehicle

Returns must only be submitted on or after 1 April in any chargeable period.

There are reliefs and exemptions from the tax, which may mean you don’t have to pay.

Meaning of ‘dwelling’

Your property will be a dwelling if all or part of it is used, or could be used as a residence, for example a house or flat. It includes any gardens, grounds and buildings within them.

Find out about valuing different types of properties for example mixed use, more than one dwelling and multiple interest properties.

Some properties aren’t classed as dwellings. These include:

• hotels
• guest houses
• boarding school accommodation
• hospitals
• student halls of residence
• military accommodation
• care homes
• prisons

Section 19 of the ATED technical guidance explains more about the meaning of ‘dwelling’.

Value your property

To work out what you need to pay you’ll need to value your property.

In some circumstances you can also ask HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) for a Pre-Return Banding Check (PRBC).

What you need to pay

The amount you’ll need to pay is worked out using a banding system based on the value of your property.

Chargeable amounts for 1 April 2017 to 31 March 2018

Property value	Annual charge
More than £500,000 but not more than £1 million	£3,500
More than £1 million but not more than £2 million	£7,050
More than £2 million but not more than £5 million	£23,550
More than £5 million but not more than £10 million	£54,950
More than £10 million but not more than £20 million	£110,100
More than £20 million	£220,350

Chargeable amounts for 1 April 2016 to 31 March 2017

Property value	Annual charge
More than £500,000 but not more than £1 million	£3,500
More than £1 million but not more than £2 million	£7,000
More than £2 million but not more than £5 million	£23,350
More than £5 million but not more than £10 million	£54,450
More than £10 million but not more than £20 million	£109,050
More than £20 million	£218,200

Chargeable amounts for 1 April 2015 to 31 March 2016

Property value	Annual charge
More than £1 million but not more than £2 million	£7,000
More than £2 million but not more than £5 million	£23,350
More than £5 million but not more than £10 million	£54,450
More than £10 million but not more than £20 million	£109,050
More than £20 million	£218,200

Chargeable amounts for chargeable period 1 April 2014 to 31 March 2015

Property value	Annual charge
More than £2 million but not more than £5 million	£15,400
More than £5 million but not more than £10 million	£35,900
More than £10 million but not more than £20 million	£71,850
More than £20 million	£143,750

Chargeable amounts for chargeable period 1 April 2013 to 31 March 2014

Property value	Annual charge
More than £2 million but not more than £5 million	£15,000
More than £5 million but not more than £10 million	£35,000
More than £10 million but not more than £20 million	£70,000
More than £20 million	£140,000

Section 6 and 7 of the ATED technical guidance tells you more about how to work out the charge if:

• you only own the dwelling for part of a year
• you claim a relief for part of the year

When you buy your property you may also have to pay Stamp Duty Land Tax. There’s a higher rate for corporate bodies.

If you sell your property you may also have to pay ATED-related Capital Gains Tax.

Submit your return and pay

You can use the ATED online service to submit your return and appoint an agent.

You’ll then need to pay anything you owe.

Other ways to submit your return

If you’re unable to use the new ATED online service, you can access the old return or the Relief Declaration Return through the Returns Notice.

Penalties and appeals

Penalties

You could be charged a penalty and interest if:

• you don’t file your return on time
• you fail to pay on time
• you submit an inaccurate return

Appeals

If you disagree with an HMRC decision about your return, for example a penalty or determination, you may be able to challenge it by appealing.

You have 30 days from the date of the decision to write and tell HMRC the grounds on which you’re appealing.

Write to:

Get help

If you need any help or further information you can call the ATED helpline.

Employee earnings affected by a backdated pay rise

A pay rise mustn’t be withheld because of maternity leave. You must recalculate the Average Weekly Earnings (AWE) to take account of pay rises awarded, or which would have been awarded had your employee not been on maternity leave. This applies if the pay rise was effective from anytime between the start of the 8 week relevant period for Statutory Maternity Pay (SMP) and the end of the statutory maternity leave.

If the effective date of the pay rise falls before the start of the relevant period but the earnings in the relevant period at the time SMP was originally calculated hadn’t been adjusted to reflect that pay rise before the end of the relevant period you must:

• recalculate her AWE to include the pay rise as though it was effective from the beginning of the relevant period
• pay any extra SMP due

If a pay rise is awarded which on recalculation means that her earnings are now high enough for her to get SMP when she couldn’t before, you must:

1. Work out 90% of her AWE.
2. Take away the standard rate of SMP.
3. Pay her the difference for 6 weeks.

If 90% of her AWE is less than the standard rate you may not have to pay her anything.
This is because she may have received the balance of the SMP now due as Maternity Allowance (MA) from the Jobcentre Plus or, in Northern Ireland, the Jobs and Benefits office.

Not all women are entitled to MA, or the MA she got may have been less than the SMP she is now entitled to. You should therefore ask her to get a letter from the Jobcentre Plus or, in Northern Ireland, the Jobs and Benefits office, to confirm how much MA she received.

If your employee gives you a letter from the Jobcentre Plus office or, in Northern Ireland, the Jobs and Benefits office, showing how much MA she got:

1. Work out the total amount of SMP she is entitled to.
2. Take away the MA she was paid.
3. Take away any SMP you have already paid her.
4. Pay her the difference.

She should still benefit from a pay rise even if she doesn’t intend to return to work with you after her maternity leave has ended.

If a pay award is made after she has terminated her employment and the pay rise is backdated into a time when she was working for you or was on maternity leave with you, she may be entitled to benefit from the pay rise. You must check the terms of her old contract of employment with you.

If more than one pay rise has been awarded during the above period you’ll need to perform separate calculations for each.

Underpayments and overpayments

If there are over or underpaid earnings affecting the AWE which disadvantages either you or the employee, check if there is documentary evidence of an agreement as to the amount that should have been paid. If there is, use the agreed earnings to calculate the AWE and if not, use the actual earnings.

Employee becomes sick

If the employee:

• becomes sick during the SMP pay period don’t pay her Statutory Sick Pay (SSP) but continue to pay her SMP as normal
• returns to work within the Maternity Pay Period (MPP) and then goes sick during that period, SMP is payable and not SSP

Keeping in touch days

To keep in touch during her maternity leave and ease her eventual return to work, a woman can work for you during her SMP pay period for up to 10 days without ending her maternity leave or losing her SMP for the week in which that work is done. These 10 days are called ‘Keeping in Touch’ (KIT) days and enable your employee to undertake the odd day’s training or do some work for you on occasions.

The employer has no right to demand that such KIT work is undertaken and your employee has no obligation to undertake such work. Before any work is done, you must agree with your employee:

• what work she will be doing
• whether the KIT days are used consecutively, singly or in blocks, but any work on any day (even as little as an hour) will count as a whole KIT day
• how much they will be paid for work done – you may count the amount of SMP towards the contractual pay agreed with your employee but you must pay the weekly SMP rate the employee is entitled to and comply with your statutory obligations, eg paying at least the National Minimum Wage

If your employee does more than 10 days work for you in her SMP pay period you can’t pay SMP to her for any week in which she does such work and her maternity leave will come to an end.

Once your employee has used her 10 KIT days, she will lose one week’s SMP for each week or part week she works for you.

The SMP pay period is not extended to take account of any such weeks. Any SMP lost in this way is always at the standard rate first, or 90% of the AWE if this is lower than the standard rate.

An employee must take 2 weeks (or 4 weeks if working in a factory) compulsory maternity leave immediately after the date the child is born and can’t work or use a KIT day during that time.

Employee returns to work then goes off sick

The legislation for entitlement to SMP has not changed in that, where your employee has returned to work within her MPP, and goes off sick, she can’t get SSP from you. You should consider paying SMP to her. Her husband’s or partner’s employer will continue to pay them SPP during both her sickness and the remaining MPP period.

Employee isn’t returning to work

If your employee isn’t returning to work you must still pay her SMP that she is entitled to.

Employee works for another employer

It is up to your employee to tell you that she is working for another employer.

If your employee works for another employer during the MPP before the baby is born, carry on paying SMP.

If your employee works for another employer after the baby is born, check whether she was employed by that employer during the Qualifying Week (QW) and if:

• your employee is working for someone who employed them in the QW, you should continue to pay them SMP as normal
• your employee is working for someone who didn’t employ them in the QW, you must stop paying SMP from the start of the last pay week they work for that employer and give the employee form SMP1 within 7 days of the decision being made

Employee taken into legal custody

You can’t pay SMP for any SMP pay week your employee is in legal custody or for any week in the pay period after that. You must give the employee form SMP1 within 7 days of the decision being made. This must all be done within 28 days from the date the employee gave notice of absence (or the date she gave birth if this had occurred earlier).

It is your employee’s responsibility to tell you if she is detained in legal custody usually this means if she is arrested or in prison.

She isn’t in legal custody if she is:

• voluntarily helping police with their enquiries
• out on bail
• serving a suspended sentence

Employee dies

If your employee dies during the MPP, you should pay SMP for the week in which they die, but not for any week in the MPP after that.

Baby dies

If the baby dies during the SMP pay period, payment should continue as normal.

Stillbirth

Your employee is entitled to SMP and maternity leave if the baby is stillborn.

A stillbirth occurs if the baby is stillborn after the 24th week of pregnancy. You’ll need evidence before making payment, eg a stillbirth certificate issued by the registrar or certificate/notification for the registration of a stillbirth issued by the attending midwife/doctor.

If a baby is born alive but survives only for an instant, it is a live birth whenever it is born and you must apply the rules for a live birth.

Break in employment

Some breaks between periods of employment won’t interrupt a period of continuous employment for SMP purposes. Employees with an ongoing contract of service during the following breaks remain continuously employed:

• temporary cessation of work – including short-term contract or agency workers
• public holidays – the employee can still get SMP
• sickness or injury – the employee can get SMP if the total period of incapacity is 26 weeks or less
• paternity, parental and adoption leave – if the employee took paternity leave when she was adopting a child or when a baby was born and she worked for you before and after the break she will satisfy the employment rule
• pregnancy – if your employee was not working for you because of a birth, and she worked for you before and after the break, and the break is not more than 26 weeks

Non-cash payments and contractual benefits

You may normally pay some of your employee’s earnings as a non-cash payment, for example, providing board and lodging or giving them goods or services. However, you must pay any SMP in full. SMP cannot be sacrificed or offset against other benefits, it must be paid in cash.

All non-pay contractual benefits must continue during statutory maternity leave. These may include any childcare vouchers, company car or mobile phone provided to the employee as part of their contract of employment.

Lump sums

If you decide to pay the SMP as a lump sum, you and your employee could pay more National Insurance contributions (NICs) than if you paid it on their normal payday.

Reinstatement after dismissal

If your employee didn’t work for you during the relevant period because you dismissed her, she is entitled to SMP as if she hadn’t been dismissed, if:

• she is reinstated because an employment tribunal decides that you dismissed her unfairly
• you reinstate her as a result of a statutory grievance procedure

Reinstatement after Armed Forces service

If the employee didn’t work for you during the relevant period, because she was serving in the Armed Forces and she returned to work for you within 6 months of the end of her service in the Forces, she may still be able to get SMP.

For SMP the employee must have been continuously employed by you for at least 26 weeks by the end of the QW. The period she served in the Armed Forces won’t count as part of the 26 weeks but the period she was employed with you before and after her service in the Armed Forces will count.

Trade Disputes or industrial action

Your employee must have been continuously employed by you for at least 26 weeks by the end of the QW. Don’t count the period they were on strike, even for one day, as this week will not count as part of the 26 weeks as your employee must have been employed for 26 weeks from the start of their employment into the QW.

Employee leaves job

Your employee can’t get maternity leave if they have left their job but may still qualify for SMP.
It doesn’t matter why she left or that she is not coming back – she is entitled to SMP if she satisfies the qualifying conditions.

If your employee starts work for a new employer before her baby is born, you are still liable to pay SMP. There are special rules for when you start to pay. Work out the date of the Sunday of the 11th week before the week baby due.

If she leaves before that date, the SMP pay period will start on the earlier of the following dates:

• the Sunday of the 11th week before the baby is due
• the day after the baby is born

If she leaves her employment after the start of the 11th week, and before any other event which may trigger her pay, then the pay period starts the day following the day on which she left her employment.

Premature or early birth after QW

If the baby is born early, there are special rules for when your employee needs to give you evidence and when you start to pay. All the other terms and conditions apply.

Your employee won’t have been able to give you advance notice, but they must tell you the date of birth as soon as possible.

Your employee should give you medical evidence (usually form MATB1 Maternity Certificate) of the date the baby was due and the date of birth. You can accept a birth certificate as evidence of the date of birth.

Your employee should give you the evidence within 21 days after the date of birth, or as soon as she can if this is not possible and not later than 13 weeks after the start of the SMP pay period.

The maternity leave and SMP pay period starts on the day after the date of birth.

Baby born in or before the QW

If the baby is born in or before the QW, there are special rules for all 4 of the terms and conditions.

The employee must:

• give you medical evidence of the date the baby is due
• have been continuously employed by you for the required period
• have AWE high enough in the relevant period
• give you acceptable notice for start of SMP

Your employee should give you medical evidence (usually form MATB1 Maternity Certificate) of the date the baby was expected to be born as well as the actual date of birth, but you can accept any document signed by a doctor or midwife as long as a date or expected date is provided. You can accept a birth certificate as evidence of the date of birth.

Your employee should give you the evidence within 21 days of the start of her SMP pay period or as soon as she can but no later than 13 weeks after the start of the SMP pay period.

If the baby is born before or during the QW, the continuous employment rule is satisfied if she would have completed 26 weeks continuous employment with you had it not been for the baby’s early birth.

If your employee has earnings which vary from week to week, you must work out her AWE using the baby’s date of birth instead of the baby’s due date and the Saturday before the date of birth instead of the Saturday in the QW. This is because you must pay her 90% of the AWE for the first 6 weeks. The total AWE should be compared to the Lower Earnings Limit (LEL) on the Saturday before the actual date of birth.

Pregnancy-related absence

If the employee is absent from work because of her pregnancy and the absence continues into or starts within the 4 week period starting on the Sunday of the 4th week before the week baby due, there are special rules for when her leave starts and when you start to pay.

The SMP pay period and her maternity leave start on the day after the first complete day of absence from work because of her pregnancy within the 4 week period. This may mean that you have to pay a mixture of wages and SMP at the beginning or end of the period.

If you aren’t sure whether the employee’s absence is caused by her pregnancy contact the Employer Helpline for advice.

Employee doesn’t qualify for SMP: PAYE Settlement Agreements

You must recalculate your employee’s AWE if all of the following apply:

• their AWE are less than the LEL in force at the end of the qualifying week
• they received any expense payments or benefits in kind in the relevant period
• the expenses or benefits were included in a PAYE Settlement Agreement

You must recalculate their AWE if you had to recalculate your employee’s earnings because they didn’t qualify and both the following apply:

• some of their earnings were included in a PAYE Settlement Agreement
• they then get a backdated pay rise that is effective during or before the start of the relevant period which you hadn’t included in the original calculation

If they don’t intend to return to work after the birth they may still be entitled to benefit from the pay rise. You must check the terms of her old contract of employment with you.

Salary sacrifice

If an employee has entered into a salary sacrifice with you their AWE is calculated using the amount of earnings actually paid to them during the relevant period. SMP cannot be sacrificed, it must be paid in full.

For the purposes of calculating AWE for SMP the calculation is based on earnings which are subject to NICs. More information is available on the treatment of childcare vouchers and other contractual expenses and benefits.

Some schemes for childcare support provided by you and made available to your employees may be exempt from PAYE tax and Class 1 NICs.

The value of the childcare vouchers provided during the MPP may not be deducted from the SMP.

Where an employee agrees to accept childcare vouchers as part of a salary sacrifice their SMP entitlement will be assessed on their gross earnings on which NICs are payable.

1. Work out the total amount she is now entitled to.
2. Take away any SMP you have already paid her.
3. Pay any extra SMP due.

If the new AWE are less than the LEL she still can’t get SMP. If you haven’t already done so give the employee form SMP1 within 7 days of the decision being made. This must all be done within 28 days from the date the employee gave notice of absence (or the date she gave birth if this had occurred earlier). Take a copy of the form MATB1 Maternity Certificate, and give the original back to her.

Terminology explained

MATB1 Maternity Certificate

This is the medical evidence that your employee usually provides as proof of pregnancy. Your employee receives this after the 20th week of pregnancy and it includes the date the baby is due.

Qualifying Week (QW)

The QW is the 15th week (Sunday to Saturday) before the week the baby is due.

Before you begin

Information you need to calculate your employee’s Statutory Maternity Pay (SMP):

• the date the baby’s due – from your employee’s MATB1 form
• your employee’s intended start date for SMP, if she’s given you one
• your employee’s gross pay and the dates she was paid
• confirmation that your employee’s gross earnings are liable to employer’s Class 1 National Insurance contributions (NICs) or would be but for the employee’s age or level of earnings

Calculate Average Weekly Earnings (AWE)

AWE must include all earnings on which Class 1 NICs are due, or would be due if they were high enough. SMP entitlement depends on your employee’s AWE in the ‘relevant period’. The AWE must be:

• £112 or more for tax year 2016 to 2017
• £113 or more for tax year 2017 to 2018

Divide all earnings paid in that relevant period by the number of days, weeks or months in that period.

The relevant period

This is usually the 8 week period before the QW.

The end of the relevant period is the last normal payday on, or before the Saturday of the QW.

The start of the relevant period is the day after the last normal payday falling at least 8 weeks before the end of the relevant period.

Example for an employee who is paid weekly:

If an employee is paid weekly and the baby is due on 25 March 2017:

Qualifying week	Payday	Last payday at least 8 weeks before the end of the relevant period	Last payday on or before the Saturday of the QW
4 December 2016 to 10 December 2016	Friday	14 October 2016	9 December 2016

The relevant period is 15 October 2016 to 9 December 2016.

Add up all the earnings paid between 15 October 2016 and 9 December 2016 and divide by 8 (the number of weeks in the relevant period).

Do not round the figure up or down to whole pence.

Example for an employee who is paid monthly

If an employee is paid monthly and the baby is due on 11 February 2017:

Qualifying week	Payday	Last payday at least 8 weeks before the end of the relevant period	Last payday on or before the Saturday of the QW
23 October 2016 to 29 October 2016	Last working day of the month	31 Jul 2016	30 Sep 2016

The relevant period is 1 August 2016 to 30 September 2016.

Add up all the earnings paid between 1 August 2016 and 30 September 2016:

• divide by 2 (number of months in the relevant period)
• multiply by 12 (number of months in the year)
• divide by 52 (number of weeks in the year)

Do not round the figure up or down to whole pence.

Weekly paid employees without a whole number of weeks in the relevant period

This may happen if you bring forward your employee’s normal payday because of bank holidays at Easter or Christmas. Divide the earnings by the number of weeks wages actually paid, not the number of weeks in the relevant period.

Employees paid multiples of a week

This may happen if you pay your employee fortnightly or 4 weekly. Divide the earnings by the number of whole weeks in the relevant period.

Monthly paid employees without a whole number of months in the relevant period

Work out the number of rounded months as follows:

• count the number of whole months
• count the numbers of odd days

Round up or down as follows:

• February – 14 days or less round down, 15 days or more round up
• any month except February – 15 days or less round down, 16 days or more round up

Divide the earnings by this number of rounded months.

Employees not paid in a regular pay pattern

Divide the earnings by the number of days in the relevant period and multiply by 7.

Mistimed payments

This only applies to regular payments of earnings paid other than on their normal date, eg due to a bank holiday.

A mistimed payment:

• occurs when the date of the actual payment of earnings is made earlier or later than the normal contractual payday, such as an annual holiday
• shouldn’t be confused with a payroll error, where a mistake is made in the payroll resulting in a shortfall of pay when working out the AWE

Divide the total earnings in the relevant period by the number of weeks wages actually paid.

Overpaid/underpaid earnings during the relevant period

Always calculate AWE based on all earnings actually paid to the employee within the relevant period, regardless of any over or underpaid wages in that period. Where over or under payments of wages occur within the relevant period, you must include the overpaid or underpaid amount in the AWE calculation for deciding if SMP is due.

Calculate SMP

When you have calculated the AWE, work out how much SMP is due and pay it on the same day that you would normally pay wages and for the same period.

SMP is a weekly payment and SMP pay weeks start with the first day of the SMP pay period, so an SMP pay period that starts on a Wednesday will have pay weeks within the pay period which runs from Wednesday to Tuesday the following week.

SMP is payable:

• 90% of the employee’s AWE for the first 6 weeks
• £140.98 or 90% of their AWE (whichever is lower) for the remaining weeks

SMP paid part weekly

You can pay SMP in part weeks if it helps to align the payments to your employees normal pay period. Divide the weekly rate by 7 and multiply by the number of days for which SMP is due in the week or month. For example, if the pay period covers the end of one month and the beginning of the next (2 days in April and 5 days at the beginning of May) then pay two-sevenths in one month and five-sevenths at the beginning of the next month.

Contractual benefits and Salary Sacrifice

The calculation of AWE for SMP is based on earnings which are subject to Class 1 NICs. Some contractual benefits, such as childcare schemes provided by you, may be exempt from PAYE tax and NICs. The value of childcare vouchers provided during the maternity pay period should not be deducted from the SMP. SMP must be paid in full.

Recovery of SMP

You may be able to recover some or all of the SMP you pay.

Help and advice

You can get advice from HM Revenue and Customs’ Employer Helpline.

Terminology

Period of Incapacity for Work (PIW)

A period of sickness lasting 4 days or more in a row. All days of sickness count towards the total number of days in a PIW, including bank holidays, weekends and non working days. If there are less than 4 days in a row there is no PIW and you do not take any action.

Qualifying days (QDs)

These are the only days that you can:

• pay SSP for
• count as waiting days

They are the days that your employee normally works – their contracted working days. You can decide not to use contracted working days, for example if your employee works a varied or alternative working pattern each week. You must agree them with your employee.

Waiting days (WDs)

SSP is not payable for the first 3 QDs in a PIW – these are called Waiting days (WDs). They are not always the first 3 days of the sickness absence as the employee may be sick on non-QDs, for example weekends. In the examples below, the employee is sick for 1 week Monday to Sunday.

Employee works (QDs)	PIW	Number of waiting days	Number of QDs SSP is payable for
Monday to Friday	7	3	2 (Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday are WDs SSP due for Thursday and Friday)
Tuesday, Thursday, Friday	7	3	0 (Tuesday, Thursday and Friday are WDs)
Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday	7	3	1 (Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday are WDs, SSP due on Friday)

Link Period of Incapacity for Work

Link PIWs and treat as 1 PIW if the gap between them is 8 weeks (56 days) or less. If all 3 WDs have not been used in the first PIW, use any remaining WDs at the start of the next or series of linked PIWs.

Entitlement to SSP is decided by applying the qualifying conditions to the first day on the first PIW, not the start of any later linked PIW.

So if for example, an employee:

• qualifies for SSP in the first PIW, but their earnings fall below the Lower Earnings Limit of £116, entitlement will continue during the second PIW, despite the fall in earnings

• did not qualify for SSP in a first PIW for any reason, they would not qualify in any later linked PIW

Calculate Average Weekly Earnings (AWE)

AWE must include all earnings on which Class 1 National Insurance contributions (NICs) are due, or would be due if they were high enough. SSP entitlement depends on your employee’s AWE in a relevant period. For the tax year 2018 to 2019 the AWE must be £116 or more. All earnings paid in that relevant period are divided by the number of days, weeks or months in that relevant period.

The relevant period

The end of the relevant period is the last normal payday before the first complete day of sickness.

The start of the relevant period is the day after the last normal payday falling not less than 8 weeks before the end of the relevant period.

Example for an employee who is weekly paid where the first full day of sickness is 21 January 2018.

Payday	Last payday before the first day of sickness	Payday at least 8 weeks before 19 January 2017
Weekly, every Friday	19 January 2017	24 November 2017

The relevant period is 25 November 2017 to 19 January 2018.

Add up all the earnings paid during the relevant period and divide by 8 (the number of weeks in the relevant period). Do not round the figure up or down to whole pence.

Example for an employee who is monthly paid where the first full day of sickness is 21 January 2018.

Payday	Last payday before the first day of sickness	Payday at least 8 weeks before 31 December 2017
Monthly on the last day of the month	31 December 2017	31 October 2017

The relevant period is 1 November 2017 to 31 December 2017.

Add up all the earnings paid during the relevant period and:

• divide by 2 (number of months in the relevant period)

• multiply by 12 (number of months in the year)

• divide by 52 (number of weeks in the year)

Do not round the figure up or down to whole pence.

New employees who have not had 8 weeks earnings yet

Employees may not have worked for you for long enough for the normal AWE rules to apply, or have worked for you before in a previous contract which does not link with the current contract.

An employee’s AWE is calculated differently where the last normal payday before the PIW is known and either:

• there are no previous paydays covering at least 8 weeks pay
• the new employee falls sick before they have their first payday

The relevant period becomes the period represented by all the earnings paid under the contract, before the first day of sick absence.

Your employee has received an exact number of weeks pay

Calculate the AWE by dividing the total earnings before the first day of sickness by the number of weeks in the relevant period. So if the employee received 5 weeks earnings the AWE is calculated by dividing the total of the 5 weeks earnings by 5.

Your employee has not received an exact number of weeks pay

Calculate the AWE by dividing the earnings before the first day of sickness by the number of days in the relevant period. So if the employee received 2 weeks and 3 days earnings (17 days), divide the earnings by 17 (days) and multiply by 7 regardless of the number of days a week the employee is expected to work

Where the PIW is before any earnings have been paid, use their contractual earnings to see if they earn enough to get SSP. Work out how much a week they will earn based on the rate of pay for their job. If their AWE will be £116 or more they will qualify.

Employee not paid any wages throughout the relevant period

You must use your employee’s normal earnings as stated in their contract if your employee is not paid any wages that they are entitled to in the relevant period. Failing to pay wages does not discharge your liability to pay SSP.

Multiple or changed pay frequency in the relevant period

An employee may have both weekly and monthly paydays, or change from weekly to monthly paid within the relevant period.

1. Calculate the unrounded AWE in each pay pattern separately.
2. Add all of the AWEs together.
3. Divide the total by the number of pay patterns in the relevant period.

This will give you the AWE for the whole of the relevant period.

Mistimed payments

This only applies to regular payments of earnings not made on their normal due date, eg due to a Bank Holiday.

A mistimed payment:

• occurs when the date of the actual payment of earnings is made earlier or later than the normal contractual payday, such as an annual holiday

• should not be confused with a payroll error, where a mistake is made in the payroll resulting in a shortfall of pay when calculating the AWE

The total earnings are divided by the number of weeks wages that you have paid rather than the number of weeks in the relevant period.

Example:

A weekly paid employee is taking 2 weeks paid holiday so you pay them 3 weeks wages on the last payday before they take their leave. They then go sick 6 weeks after their holiday. The relevant period for SSP starts on the first day of their holiday. Divide the total earnings actually paid in the relevant period by 6. The earnings represent only 6 weeks wages as you had paid their wages for the first 2 weeks before the start of the relevant period.

Overpaid/underpaid earnings during the relevant period

AWE are always based on all earnings actually paid to the employee within the relevant period, regardless of any over or underpaid wages in that period. Where over or under payments of wages occur within the relevant period, they are treated in the same way as all other earnings paid in that period for calculating AWE.

If incorrect earnings have been paid, which would produce a situation that worked to the disadvantage of either the employer or employee, and there is documentary evidence of an agreement between both parties as to the actual earnings that should have been paid, you should use the earnings agreed to calculate an employee’s AWE.

Where there is no evidence of an agreement, you should calculate the AWE using the earnings actually paid.

Non contractual benefits

Some schemes for childcare support provided by you and made available to your employees may be exempt from PAYE tax and Class 1 NICs such as childcare vouchers. You must not deduct the value of childcare vouchers provided during a period of sickness from SSP. Where an employee agrees to accept childcare vouchers as part of salary sacrifice, their SSP entitlement will be assessed on their gross earnings on which NICs are payable.

Salary sacrifice

If you provide benefits under a salary sacrifice scheme, calculate their AWE using the amount of earnings actually paid to your employee during the relevant period, minus the salary sacrifice.

Calculate SSP including rates

When you have calculated the AWE, work out how much SSP is due and pay it on the same day that you would normally pay wages and for the same period.

A full week for SSP purposes begins with a Sunday and ends at midnight on the following Saturday. The weekly rate for 6 April 2018 to 5 April 2019 is £92.05. If your employee works on the same qualifying days each week, you will pay the weekly rate of SSP for each full week that they are off sick.

For periods less than a full week, pay SSP for a part week, using a daily rate of SSP (weekly rate divided by the number of agreed QDs in that week).

The amount payable that week is the unrounded daily rate multiplied by the number of QDs the employee is sick in that week (not including WDs).

Daily rates table for days of sickness from 6 April 2018 to 5 April 2019

You can either use the SSP calculator or the table below to work out your employee’s sick pay.

Unrounded daily rates	Number of QDs in week	1 day to pay	2 days to pay	3 days to pay	4 days to pay	5 days to pay	6 days to pay	7 days to pay
£13.1500	7	£13.15	£26.30	£39.45	£52.60	£65.75	£78.90	£92.05
£15.3416	6	£15.35	£30.69	£46.03	£61.37	£76.71	£92.05
£18.4100	5	£18.41	£36.82	£55.23	£73.64	£92.05
£23.0125	4	£23.02	£46.03	£69.04	£92.05
£30.6833	3	£30.69	£61.37	£92.05
£46.0250	2	£46.03	£92.05
£92.0500	1	£92.05

Daily rates table for days of sickness from 6 April 2017 to 5 April 2018

Unrounded daily rates*	Number of QDs in week	1 day to pay	2 days to pay	3 days to pay	4 days to pay	5 days to pay	6 days to pay	7 days to pay
£12.7642	7	£12.77	£25.53	£38.30	£51.06	£63.83	£76.59	£89.35
£14.8916	6	£14.90	£29.79	£44.68	£59.57	£74.46	£89.35
£17.8700	5	£17.87	£35.74	£53.61	£71.48	£89.35
£22.3375	4	£22.34	£44.68	£67.02	£89.35
£29.7833	3	£29.79	£59.57	£89.35
£44.6750	2	£44.68	£89.35
£89.3500	1	£89.35

• Unrounded daily rates are shown for employers with computerised payroll systems.

Examples:

Employee works	QDs in a week	Period of sickness	PIW	Number of WDs	Number of days SSP is payable for	Total due for that week
Monday to Friday	5	5	5	3	2	£36.82
Tuesday, Thursday, Friday	3	3	0	0	0	£0.00
Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday	4	4	4	3	1	£23.02

Daily rates table for days of sickness from 6 April 2016 to 5 April 2017

Unrounded daily rates	Number of QDs in week	1 day to pay	2 days to pay	3 days to pay	4 days to pay	5 days to pay	6 days to pay	7 days to pay
£12.6357	7	£12.64	£25.28	£37.91	£50.55	£63.18	£75.82	£88.45
£14.7416	6	£14.75	£29.49	£44.23	£58.97	£73.71	£88.45
£17.6900	5	£17.69	£35.38	£53.07	£70.76	£88.45
£22.1125	4	£22.12	£44.23	£66.34	£88.45
£29.4833	3	£29.49	£58.97	£88.45
£44.2250	2	£44.23	£88.45
£88.4500	1	£88.45

Examples:

Employee works	QDs in a week	Period of sickness	PIW	Number of WDs	Number of days SSP is payable for	Total due for that week
Monday to Friday	5	5	5	3	2	£35.38
Tuesday, Thursday, Friday	3	3	0	0	0	£0.00
Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday	4	4	4	3	1	£22.12

Help and advice

You can ask a question using HMRC email query service.

Alternatively, you can get advice from HMRC’s Employer Helpline.

Your employee earns less than the Lower Earnings Limit

Your employee may not qualify because their Average Weekly Earnings (AWE) are less than the Lower Earnings Limit. Check whether they received any benefits or expenses within the relevant period. Review them to see if they were subject to a PAYE Settlement Agreement and Class 1B National Insurance contributions (NICs) and would otherwise have attracted Class 1 NICs liability.

If so, you must recalculate their AWE to include these expenses and/or benefits, on which Class 1B NICs were paid, to see if they now qualify.

Your employee has been overpaid or underpaid

If there are over or underpaid earnings affecting the AWE which disadvantages either you or the employee, check if there is documentary evidence of an agreement as to the amount that should have been paid. If there is, use the agreed earnings to calculate the AWE and if not, use the actual earnings.

Your employee is in legal custody

If an employee is taken into legal custody during a current Period of Incapacity for Work (PIW) entitlement to SSP will end on the day before they were detained. No new PIWs can start until the day following release.

Any full or part days an employee is detained in custody don’t count towards qualifying days, waiting days or linking.

A new PIW (regardless of whether it’s the original illness or a new illness) formed after release will link if there is 56 days or less between them. Please read Statutory Sick Pay (SSP): employer guide for further information.

Your employee is involved in a trade dispute with you

Your employee can’t get SSP if they’re off work because of a trade dispute on the first day of the PIW. To be entitled to SSP they must have no direct involvement in the dispute. And they must not have taken part in it at any time up to and including the first day of the PIW.

Linked PIWs count as 1 – it is the situation at the start of the first PIW (for example involved in a trade dispute with you) that counts when deciding whether you can pay SSP. So if your employee has a linked PIW, SSP won’t be due, as they were involved in a trade on the first day of the previous PIW.

If they are off sick when the trade dispute starts, they will continue to be entitled to SSP only if they take no active part in the dispute.

Your employee is pregnant

Women who are entitled to Statutory Maternity Pay (SMP) or Maternity Allowance (MA) are not entitled to SSP during their Maternity Pay Period (MPP) or Maternity Allowance Period (MAP). The MPP or MAP is a period of 39 weeks during which SMP or MA is payable.

If your employee is not entitled to either SMP or MA and is not already receiving SSP, she can’t get SSP for 18 weeks starting with the earlier of the beginning of the week:

• in which her baby is born
• she is first off sick, either wholly or partly because of her pregnancy, if this is on or after the start of the fourth week before her baby is due

If your employee is not entitled to SMP or MA and is receiving SSP, her entitlement will end on the earlier of the:

• date on which her baby is born
• day she is first off sick, either wholly or partly because of her pregnancy, if this is on or after the fourth week before her baby is due

Where a PIW doesn’t start until after the end of the disqualifying period, SSP must be considered under the normal rules for that PIW.

Your employee has a linking letter

You must ask any new employee who goes sick within the first 12 weeks after they start or return to work for you, if they were given one of these forms by the Department for Work and Pensions. If so, your employee may be able to return to social security benefit payments and therefore is not entitled to SSP.

You must send an employee form SSP1 within 7 days of them going off sick if any of the above circumstances apply and your employee doesn’t quality for SSP.

Data includes individual contributions, self-employed figures and employer contributions.

All figures are derived from returns made by scheme administrators to HMRC, apart from Retirement Annuity Contracts which are derived from HMRC’s Survey of Personal Incomes and Self-Employment Contributions which are derived from a matching of both these sources.