The Benefits in kind tab of the employee's Benefits tab is split into two sections that do different jobs:
Payrolled benefits: Benefits that are taxed through pay. The benefit's cash equivalent is added to the employee's taxable pay each payroll period, so tax is collected as they go rather than through a P11D at the end of the tax year.
Benefit costs: What a benefit costs you, and anything the employee pays towards it from their pay. These amounts are recorded for reporting.
The two sections are separate records and aren't linked. Adding, editing or ending a benefit in one section doesn't change the other.
Important: You can only assign benefits when editing an employee, not when creating them.
Note: If you are an outsourced customer and you can't see the benefit you need, contact your bureau.
For other types of benefit, such as salary sacrifice schemes and company vehicles, see Benefits: Where to enter each type of benefit.
To access benefits in Cintra People Payroll, open a payroll, select the employee, then click the Benefits tab.
Which section should I use?
Because the two sections are separate, you may need to add a benefit to one section or to both, depending on what you need it to do. If you add a benefit to both sections, it isn't taxed twice.
I want to… | Add the benefit to | Example |
|---|---|---|
Tax the benefit through payroll only | Payrolled benefits | You payroll private medical insurance for tax, but track what it costs you in your finance system. |
Record the cost only | Benefit costs | You report a health cash plan on the employee's P11D at the end of the tax year rather than payrolling it, but want to record what it costs you and take the employee's contribution from their pay. |
Tax the benefit through payroll and record the cost | Payrolled benefits and Benefit costs | You payroll private medical insurance for tax, and also want to record the premium you pay and the employee's top-up for reporting. |
Viewing benefits in kind
Payrolled benefits are grouped by their HMRC benefit section. Any payrolled benefit without an HMRC section is listed under Uncategorised. Benefit costs are grouped by scheme.
Each benefit shows its amount (the cash equivalent for payrolled benefits, or the employee and employer contributions for benefit costs), its start and end dates, and its status:
Active: The benefit has started and hasn't ended.
Upcoming: The benefit's start date is in the future.
Inactive: The benefit has ended.
Use the Show me only active benefits toggle to hide benefits that have ended. (Verify)
Adding a payrolled benefit
In the Payrolled benefits section, click Add benefit.
Select the benefit you want to assign, then click Continue. Each benefit shows its HMRC section underneath its name.
Only benefits the employee doesn't already have are listed. If there are none left to assign, No benefits available to assign is displayed.
Enter a Start date. The End date is optional; leave it blank if the benefit is ongoing. Click Continue.
Choose how you want to enter the cash equivalent:
Annual amount: The cash equivalent for the whole tax year.
Per period amount: The amount taxed each payroll period.
Enter the cash equivalent, then click Assign benefit.
The cash equivalent is added to the employee's taxable pay from the next payroll calculation, and appears on their payslip with the note "Unpaid for tax purposes only". If the benefit starts or ends part-way through a payroll period, the amount for that period is pro-rated.
Note: A payrolled benefit only sets up the taxable amount. It doesn't record what the benefit costs you or take anything from the employee's pay. If you need to do either, add the benefit under Benefit costs as well.
Important: If the benefit's payroll heading is also mapped to a P11D section in Cintra iQ, the benefit will be reported again on the employee's P11D at the end of the tax year. Check the heading's setup in Cintra iQ to avoid reporting it twice.
Adding a benefit cost
In the Benefit costs section, click Add benefit.
Select the benefit you want to assign, then click Continue. Each benefit shows its default amount per payroll period, if one has been set.
Any benefit the employee already has is greyed out and can't be selected.
Enter a Start date. The End date is optional; leave it blank if the benefit is ongoing. Click Continue.
Choose whether the contributions are a Fixed amount (£) or a Percentage (%) of the employee's gross pay.
Enter the Employee contribution and Employer contribution. If the benefit has a default value, it is filled in for you. To change it, click the Override default value toggle.
Click Add benefit.
Note: A benefit cost only records what the benefit costs. It doesn't tax the benefit through payroll. If the benefit should be payrolled for tax, add it under Payrolled benefits as well.
Managing existing benefits
To manage a benefit in either section, click its ⋮ icon. The actions available depend on the benefit's status.
Editing a benefit
Click the benefit's ⋮ icon, then click Edit benefit.
Change the start date, end date or amount as required:
For a payrolled benefit, you can enter the cash equivalent as an Annual amount or a Per period amount.
For a benefit cost, you can change the employee and employer contributions. To change a default value, click the Override default value toggle.
Click Save.
Important: Changing dates or amounts may recalculate payroll and update previous payroll periods. Editing also overwrites the previous values, with no record of what they were. If the value of a benefit genuinely changes (for example, a new annual premium), renew it instead.
Renewing a benefit
Renewing ends the current benefit and creates a new one from a start date you choose, with a new amount. This keeps a clean record of when the value changed, for example when a premium changes at the start of a new policy year.
You can only renew a benefit that is active and has no end date. You can't renew a benefit that:
hasn't started yet
already has an end date (to change when it ends, edit the end date instead)
has already ended
To renew a benefit:
Click the benefit's ⋮ icon, then click Renew benefit.
Check the current details, then click Continue.
Enter the start date for the renewed benefit, then click Continue.
Enter the new amount, then click Renew benefit.
The current benefit ends the day before the renewed benefit starts.
Ending a benefit
You can only end a benefit that is active and has no end date. If the benefit already has an end date, edit the end date instead.
Click the benefit's ⋮ icon, then click End benefit.
Enter the End date.
Click End benefit.
The benefit stops from the end date you enter, and its status changes to Inactive once that date has passed. For a payrolled benefit, anything already taxed stays taxed, and the rest of the cash equivalent isn't collected.
Deleting a benefit
Click the benefit's ⋮ icon, then click Delete benefit and confirm.
Warning! Deleted benefits can't be restored. If a benefit has already been used in payroll, end it instead so its history is kept.
You can't delete a payrolled benefit that started before the current payroll period. If you try, the message "This benefit can't be deleted because it started before the current payroll period" is displayed. End the benefit instead.
FAQs
Will a benefit be taxed twice if I add it to both sections?
No. Only Payrolled benefits are taxed through pay. Benefit costs record what the benefit costs.
Why can't I see the benefit I want to assign?
The employee may already have it. You can only have one active record of each benefit in each section. Payrolled benefits the employee already has aren't listed, and benefit costs they already have are greyed out.
If the benefit hasn't been set up yet, it won't be listed. If you are an outsourced customer, contact your bureau.
Why is a payrolled benefit listed under Uncategorised?
Its payroll heading hasn't been given an HMRC benefit section in Cintra iQ. Once it has, the benefit is listed under that section instead.