Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, when small businesses will be able to automate the payment to HMRC of National Insurance and PAYE for employees.

HMRC currently enables employers to pay their PAYE/NIC liability by Direct Debit. Guidance on how to do this can be found on the gov.uk website at https://www.gov.uk/pay-paye-tax/direct-debit.

Employers can currently only make single Direct Debit payments, meaning they must set up a payment each time they pay. This is because the amount owed can include elements which do not have to be reported to HMRC until too close to the payment deadline to allow us to automatically collect by Direct Debit.

HMRC recognises the benefits of payment by Direct Debit and will continue to look at how to enable customers to set up ongoing Direct Debit arrangements.