Do I have an extra pay period at the end of the tax year?

Summary

This guide explains if you have an extra pay period at the end of the tax year, known as week 53 or fortnight 27, and how to process it in Sage Payroll.

Description

For the 2022 tax year, an extra pay period occurs when the regular pay date for weekly, fortnightly or four-weekly paid employees falls on Saturday 31 December.

NOTE: A separate payslip must be produced and the employee must be paid on 31 December. Employees cannot be paid in advance to cover the extra pay period.

Resolution

Check if you have an extra pay period

In the 2022 tax year, you have an extra pay period if the following applies:

Your normal pay day is a Saturday and your...

Weekly paid employees were last processed on 24 December.
Fortnightly paid employees were last processed on 17 December.
Four-weekly paid employees were last processed on 3 December.

NOTE: Monthly frequency payrolls can't have an extra pay period.

In each of these instances, you're next due to process the employees pay on 31 December 2022. These are the only scenarios where you must process an extra pay period, as the next processing date for all other pay dates falls in to the 2023 tax year.

If you don't have an extra pay period

Once you complete your final pay period, you can process payroll year end.

If you have an extra pay period

To process an extra pay period, there's nothing different that you need to do. Simply set the period and follow your normal processing routine, including producing payslips for your employees. Sage Payroll will automatically apply the correct rules to each employee being processed in the extra pay period.

CAUTION: All employee payments that are processed in Sage Payroll 2022 must be paid to employees before 31 December 2022, regardless of when the employee last received pay. If an employee is due to receive pay in January 2023, this must be processed in Sage Payroll 2023.

Once you've done this, you can process payroll year end.

How tax and universal social charge (USC) calculates in an extra pay period

To comply with government legislation, tax and USC calculates on a week 1 basis. This means that for this period only, tax and USC is calculated on your employees' gross pay, using a weekly pay adjustment at the current tax code and USC rates.

If an employee is paid fortnightly or four weekly, the two or four weekly pay adjustment applies.

CAUTION: Whilst many employees may already be on week 1 tax status where your company availed of the Temporary Wage Subsidy Scheme, you must process the extra pay period separately to your penultimate pay period.

Set an extra pay period

Open Sage Payroll 2022 and log in to a payroll as normal.
From the menu bar at the top of your window, click Processing then click Set Period.
In the New period to process box, enter the extra pay period number:

In a weekly payroll - Type 53.
In a fortnightly payroll - Type 27.
In a four weekly payroll - Type 14.

Check the dates and information are correct for the last period of the tax year. If not, amend as required.
Once all information is correct for the new period, click OK.