What to do when an employee dies

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Paying a pensioner who has died

You must make all outstanding payments when someone receiving your company pension dies.

Put the date they died in the 鈥楧ate of leaving鈥� field in your next Full Payment Submission (FPS), and work out their final pension payment.

Working out tax

Use their existing tax code unless it鈥檚 a new tax year by the time you pay them.

If it鈥檚 a new tax year and you have not reported their 鈥楧ate of leaving鈥� (the date they died) on an FPS yet, use their new tax code. Otherwise, use tax code 0T on a 鈥榳eek 1鈥� or 鈥榤onth 1鈥� basis and put 鈥榊es鈥� in the 鈥楶ayment after leaving indicator鈥� field in your FPS.

Payments to a person who has died are usually made to the personal representative or executor of that person鈥檚 estate.

If you pay someone after their death

If you鈥檝e made a pension payment to someone after they died (for example because you were told about their death late), you should get the overpayment back from their executor.

Put the pensioner鈥檚 鈥楧ate of leaving鈥� (the date they died) on your next FPS, and choose 鈥楬 - Correction to an earlier submission鈥� in the 鈥楲ate reporting reason鈥� field.

If you do not know the date they died, put the date of their final pension payment as their 鈥楧ate of leaving鈥�.

Amend the year-to-date figures if you get the overpayment back.

If it鈥檚 a new tax year by the time you find out a pensioner has died:

  • put 鈥�0.00鈥� in the year-to-date figures for pay and tax in your FPS
  • send either an Earlier Year Update (EYU) or an FPS with the correct year to date figures for the previous year