Payroll Advice

Temporary NI Number

My local tax office has given me a temporary NI number for an employee in the format 99aa99999. Should we use this new format number on the P11 and end of year reporting?

Confusion arises when the HMRC PAYE tax office is not notified of the correct NI number and they allocate their own temporary PAYE number which is then used on correspondence. However, this is not a recognisable NI number to the National Insurance Contributions Office.

The NI Office issues numbers to those approaching 16 years of age and those working or claiming benefit so that contributions and credits can be correctly recorded on each person's National Insurance account. The NI number consists of two letters followed by six numbers then one more letter, either A, B, C or D. As soon as an employee starts work, you should ask them for their NI number - by law, everyone who is working must have one and let you know what it is. This helps to protect the employee's entitlement to Social Security Benefit.

If you are unable to get hold of an employee's NI number then you must keep a record of their full name, address, date of birth and gender. If you send a form P46 for the person, the NI Office will automatically trace their number. Alternatively, you can use the NI number Trace Service by obtaining form CA6855 from the Employer's Orderline, tax office or local NI office. This will trace the employee's number and send you a form CA6856 confirming it. Or, they may write to let you know that the number cannot be traced.

If the employee has never had an NI number then record their information and tell them to contact their nearest JobCentre Plus Office to arrange an interview and completion of the appropriate application forms. After the interview they should obtain a form CA5404 verifying that they have applied for an NI number.

It is essential that you obtain a correct NI number for each employee and do not use temporary numbers.

It has recently been brought to the attention of the HMRC that some local tax offices have sent employers 8-digit non-suffix NI numbers after checking the NI number from P46 submissions. These are incorrect and employers are asked to add the suffix A, B, C or D on the end of the number when completing forms P14 and the HMRC will then sort out the correct number.


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