What to do when an employee dies

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Paying an employee who has died

You must make all outstanding payments when an employee dies.

Put the date they died into the ‘Date of leaving� field in your next Full Payment Submission (FPS), and deduct tax using their existing tax code. Use category letter X so that you do not deduct National Insurance. Do not produce a P45.

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

If you make a mistake

If an employee dies and you did not report it in the right FPS, follow the guidance for when an employee leaves.

Making a late payment

If you need to pay someone after you’ve sent an FPS with their ‘Date of leaving� (the date they died):

  • use tax code 0T on a ‘week 1â€� or ‘month 1â€� basis
  • include their ‘Date of leavingâ€� and put ‘Yesâ€� in the ‘Payment after leaving indicatorâ€� field in your FPS
  • choose ‘H - Correction to an earlier submissionâ€� in the ‘Late payment reasonâ€� field
  • update the year-to-date figures - or if it’s a new tax year, make sure the year-to-date figures only include the additional payment