Insights & guides
Straight answers on UK payroll & tax
No jargon, no fluff, practical guides for overseas employers hiring in the UK, and for contractors and landlords who need to file a tax return. Written by the people who do this for a living.
No jargon, no fluff, practical guides for overseas employers hiring in the UK, and for contractors and landlords who need to file a tax return. Written by the people who do this for a living.
The eight beliefs that turn up most in real enquiries, and the three that put an overseas employer on the wrong HMRC scheme.
Read the guide → Tax codesHow to spot it on a payslip, the six things that usually cause it, the one route that changes the code, and when the money comes back.
Read the guide → HMRC mechanicsFour things that usually cause it, the fingerprint each one leaves, and the order to check them in before you pay anything twice.
Read the guide → Self AssessmentProbably yes, and the deadline that catches people is 5 October, not 31 January. What the £100 penalty is actually for.
Read the guide → Overseas employersWe sell the cheaper alternative, so read this sceptically. Six situations where an EOR is the better buy, and three where it is not.
Read the guide → For practicesThe three options open to a small practice, the arithmetic on a five-employee client, and three tests that settle it faster than a spreadsheet.
Read the guide → Overseas payrollThe most misunderstood fact about direct payment schemes, and the one that changes an employee's mind when they finally understand it.
Read the guide → Overseas employersControl, substitution and mutuality, applied to real working arrangements rather than defined. The question that decides everything after it.
Read the guide → EmployersScheme, right to work, pension, contract, first payday. What has to be in place before hire number one, in the order it has to happen.
Read the guide → Overseas employersRoughly £6,000 a year on an EOR against roughly £1,900 on your own scheme. The routes, the order to do it in, and how to time the handover.
Read the guide → Overseas employersOnce there is a UK entity, the route is a standard PAYE scheme, not DPNI. Setup, the monthly obligations, and who should run it.
Read the guide → Overseas employersShort answer: usually no. Why you can employ someone here without incorporating, and when a UK entity is still worth it.
Read the guide → Overseas employersNo UK office and no UK company, but someone in the UK to pay. The three routes, what has to happen either way, and what it costs.
Read the guide →Take home pay drops and the only clue is a few characters on the payslip. What the number and the letter are actually saying, the six things that usually put a code wrong, why your employer cannot change it, and the Check your Income Tax route that can. Plus HMRC's fifteen working day turnaround and how the refund reaches you.
Read the guide → Direct payment schemesEight things overseas employers say with complete confidence about direct payment schemes, each checked against HMRC's own PAYE manual. Whether you need a UK company, who is actually allowed to register the scheme, whether employer's National Insurance ever arises, how DCNI differs from an NI-only scheme, how many schemes a team of three needs, where the liability really sits, whether the pension rules reach a company with no UK office, and what happens when someone has already been paid gross.
Read the guide → HMRC mechanicsA demand for a month you settled weeks ago is nearly always one of four things: a payment referenced to the wrong tax month, a submission carrying the wrong pay date, a reduction never reported on an EPS, or an employee sitting on HMRC's system twice. The fingerprint each one leaves, how the seventeen character payment reference works, and when to stop waiting and ring.
Read the guide → Self AssessmentIf your employer is abroad and your tax runs through a scheme in your own name, you almost certainly have a personal filing obligation nobody mentioned. The 5 October registration deadline, how it differs from 31 January, and why the £100 penalty everyone quotes is for filing late rather than registering late.
Read the guide → Overseas employersAn EOR sells speed and a shift in who is legally the employer. Everything else on the invoice has to happen on any route. The six situations where that trade is worth paying for, the three where it is not, and the two questions to ask a provider before you sign.
Read the guide → For practicesThe three options open to a small practice, the arithmetic on a five-employee client, and three tests that settle it faster than a spreadsheet.
Read the guide → Overseas payrollThe most misunderstood fact about direct payment schemes, and the one that changes an employee's mind when they finally understand it.
Read the guide → Overseas employersControl, substitution and mutuality, applied to real working arrangements rather than defined. The question that decides everything after it.
Read the guide → For practicesWhat to do in the first week, what to decide in the first month, and how to make sure the next departure is an inconvenience rather than a crisis.
Read the guide → Cost comparisonThree routes to employing in the UK, four questions that pick between them, and the cost comparison people usually get wrong.
Read the guide → Overseas payrollFour to eight weeks, and the difference between the two is mostly within your control. What can run in parallel while HMRC processes it.
Read the guide → For practicesDo the sum on one client with five employees. Then decide whether you are choosing to subsidise payroll or discovering that you were.
Read the guide → For employeesWritten for the person rather than the company. What lands in your account, what is not yours, and what to ask your employer for in writing.
Read the guide → Overseas payrollMonths of gross pay and no scheme. The disclosure route, the arithmetic, and the awkward conversation about who funds the catch-up.
Read the guide → For employeesThe document list that satisfies a UK lender when there is no UK employer, and the one letter that most often unsticks a stalled application.
Read the guide → For practicesHow the arrangement actually works, and the four questions to ask a bureau before you put a client anywhere near it.
Read the guide → Overseas employersFive questions that settle it, including the situations where the honest answer is that you do not need a scheme and do not need us.
Read the guide → EmployersHire number one turns payroll into a legal obligation with dates on it. The scheme to register, the checks to make before day one, the pension duties that start immediately, and the 2026/27 figures that decide what the hire really costs.
Read the guide → Overseas employersAn EOR buys speed at a premium. Once a UK hire has settled, moving them onto your own PAYE scheme or a DPNI scheme cuts the service fee sharply. The two destinations, the seven steps, and what to watch on continuity and payday timing.
Read the guide → Overseas employersA UK entity puts you on the standard PAYE route rather than DPNI, with one scheme covering the whole UK team. What registration involves, what the scheme owes HMRC each month, and whether to run it in-house.
Read the guide → Overseas employersUsually not. Why an overseas employer can employ someone in the UK with no UK entity, when a UK company genuinely earns its keep, and the trade-off between the two.
Read the guide → Overseas employersYour own UK PAYE scheme, a DPNI scheme with no UK entity, or an Employer of Record. The three routes compared, the obligations that apply either way, and the fixed monthly cost.
Read the guide → For employeesPAYE, NI category letters, BR and K tax codes, YTD, the statutory pay codes and the loan plans. Every line on a UK payslip in plain English, at 2026/27 rates.
Read the guide → PayrollA P6 tells you to change an employee's tax code mid-year. What a P6 and a P9 are, what to do when one lands, and what happens if you miss one.
Read the guide → Overseas payrollHow it works in practice: three illustrative setups for overseas employers, and how we work with international teams across timezones.
See the examples → For employeesForeign employer, no UK office, nothing deducted from your pay? Why it isn't just a tax return, the National Insurance trap, and how a DPNI scheme in your name sorts it.
Read the guide → Free guideOur 2026 checklist for hiring your first UK employee with no UK entity, the routes, the real costs, the compliance, and a first-30-days action list.
Get the guide → Overseas payrollThe whole picture in one place, the three routes (own PAYE, DPNI/DCNI, EOR), the real costs, your obligations and a realistic timeline, each linking to the detail.
Read the guide → ReferenceIncome tax, NI, statutory pay, minimum wage, student loan and pension thresholds for 2026/27, a clear, scannable UK payroll reference.
View the rates → UK payrollThe apprentice minimum wage, the employer NI saving from category H (under 25), and the Apprenticeship Levy, what actually changes in payroll, with a 2026/27 worked example.
Read the guide → Overseas payrollWhen do IR35 rules apply if you engage a UK contractor from abroad? The small-company exemption, who carries the SDS and PAYE, and how it differs from DPNI.
Read the guide → PayrollWhat benefits in kind are, the P11D and P11D(b), Class 1A NIC at 15%, the 6 July deadline, and why payrolling benefits becomes mandatory from April 2027.
Read the guide → PayrollThe year-end process in order, the final FPS/EPS, P60s by 31 May, P11Ds by 6 July, new tax-year codes, and what overseas employers must do.
Read the guide → Country guideUK PAYE vs the bulletin de paie, far lower employer charges than French cotisations, posted-worker rules, and why you usually need no UK entity.
Read the guide → Country guideUK PAYE/NI vs Irish PAYE/PRSI, Common Travel Area right-to-work, and the close-but-different details, same time zone, no UK entity required.
Read the guide → Country guideEmploy UK staff with no UK entity via DPNI, one PAYE deduction instead of TDS/PF/ESI, right-to-work basics, GBP pay and the time-zone overlap.
Read the guide → Country guideCPF vs UK NI and a separate pension, PAYE deduct-at-source vs settle-it-yourself tax, right-to-work, and why you usually need no UK entity.
Read the guide → Payroll & pensionsHow salary sacrifice cuts Income Tax and NI for both employee and employer, a clear 2026/27 worked example, what still qualifies, and the pitfalls to check.
Read the guide → Overseas payrollDo you owe UK statutory sick and family pay with no UK entity? The 2026/27 rates, who qualifies, and how much you can recover from HMRC.
Read the guide → Overseas payrollShare codes, the statutory excuse and a two-year record, how to check a UK hire's right to work before day one, and the fines if you don't.
Read the guide → PayrollThe £5,000 and £12,570 salary options, the Employment Allowance trap, and the new dividend rates, how owner-directors pay themselves efficiently.
Read the guide → Overseas payrollYes, you usually have to enrol UK staff in a workplace pension, even with no UK entity. The duties, the 8% minimum and qualifying earnings for 2026/27.
Read the guide → Overseas payrollDPNI covers tax and NI; DCNI is NI-only. What each scheme covers, who's responsible for the tax, and how to tell which one you actually need.
Read the guide → Overseas payrollA realistic timeline for an employer with no UK entity, why the DPNI scheme can't be opened online, and how to be ready for the first payday.
Read the guide → Overseas payrollThe complete guide. Compare the three routes side by side, estimate what a UK hire really costs, and see the UK employment essentials.
Read the guide → Country guidePAYE vs W-2, employer NI vs FICA, no at-will, the five differences that surprise American companies, and how to hire with no UK entity.
Read the guide → Country guidePost-Brexit right-to-work checks, lower employer costs than Sozialversicherung, no works councils, what German companies need to know.
Read the guide → Country guidePAYE vs PAYG, 3% pension vs 12% super, 5.6 weeks' holiday, the differences that matter, and how to hire with no UK entity.
Read the guide → Cost comparisonEOR platforms charge ~£500 per employee per month. Your own payroll costs a fraction, even with no UK entity. Interactive comparison inside.
Compare the numbers → Cost comparisonUK EOR pricing explained: the monthly fee, the deposits and extras nobody lists, and the cheaper own-payroll route for staff you intend to keep.
See the breakdown → Cost comparisonThe real hours, software costs and penalty risk of DIY, plus an honest panel on when doing it yourself genuinely makes sense.
See the honest maths → Country guidePAYE vs CPP/EI source deductions, T4 vs P60, 5.6 weeks' holiday vs 2 to 3, and how to hire with no UK entity.
Read the guide → Country guideFrom zero payroll tax to full PAYE: WPS vs RTI, gratuity vs pensions, and the on-costs to budget, the Gulf employer's guide.
Read the guide → Country guideLoonheffing vs PAYE, no vakantiegeld, lower employer costs than the Dutch stack, what changes post-Brexit.
Read the guide → Self AssessmentThe £1,000 property allowance, rent-a-room relief, what you can deduct, non-resident landlords, and the MTD timeline.
Read the guide → Self AssessmentRegistering by 5 October, your UTR, the records to keep, and the payments-on-account ambush every first-timer should see coming.
Read the guide → ReferencePAYE, RTI, FPS, DPNI, P60, qualifying earnings, every term you'll meet in plain English, plus the dates that matter.
Open the glossary → Overseas payrollRun your own UK payroll or use an EOR? The real difference, when each wins, and why a DPNI scheme is often the leaner middle path.
Read the guide → PayrollReporting payroll to HMRC in real time, what the FPS and EPS are, when each is due, and the on-or-before-payday rule that catches employers out.
Read the guide → Self AssessmentQuarterly digital updates are replacing the annual return for sole traders and landlords. The thresholds, the timeline, and what to do now.
Read the guide → Overseas payrollHow overseas companies can employ UK staff without a UK entity, what a DPNI or NI-only scheme is, when you need one, and how to set it up.
Read the guide → Overseas payrollSalary is only the start. Employer NI, pensions, the Apprenticeship Levy and more, the full cost of hiring in the UK, with 2026/27 numbers.
Read the guide → PayrollWhat employer NI is, the current rate and threshold, the Employment Allowance, and how to work out what you'll actually pay on a UK salary.
Read the guide → Self AssessmentWhen PAYE through an umbrella isn't the whole story, who needs to file Self Assessment, what you can claim, and how to avoid penalties.
Read the guide → PayrollFrom 6 April 2026 the responsibility for umbrella workers' PAYE moves to the recruitment agency. What's changing, the liability, and what to do now.
Read the guide →Ask us directly, we're happy to point you the right way, no obligation.
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