Make more of your employment reporting

In summary:

• Employers face a wide range of reporting and compliance deadlines in the months ahead relating to both the previous and new tax year
• Meeting these obligations requires collating a vast amount of data on pay, benefits and expenses
• This data can also be a rich source of insights to increase efficiencies in their pay and incentives strategies

The costs of employment aren’t just captured in salaries. There’s significant complexity, too, and the end of each UK tax year brings a wide range of compliance obligations and employer liabilities.

From employee travel data and expenses to benefits and equity awards, employers must collate vast amounts of data on their workforces. Several deadlines loom, including registering to payroll benefits in kind and applying for short-term business visitor reportings. Others stretch into the months ahead, like reporting employment-related securities events and employee benefits in kind by July (see table below). 

Meeting these requirements and deadlines can be a significant strain on internal teams. But it’s also an opportunity.  

The data required for employment taxes and reporting is potentially a rich source of insights for improvements and efficiencies to control costs, improve their use of reliefs and ensure key staff are incentivised.  

The end of the tax year, therefore, offers an opportunity to review the data gathered for reporting with a critical eye to identify improvements for the year ahead. These opportunities vary widely, for example:    

• There is usually no tax charge for employer-provided meals at an employer’s offices when these are available to all employees. But the exemption doesn’t apply where employees can claim an expense for meals ordered through a platform. The end of the tax year is an opportunity to consider whether savings could be made, for instance, by setting up a corporate account for popular meal delivery platforms
• For globally mobile workforces, the introduction of the UK’s foreign income and gains (FIG) regime from April 2025 poses both challenges and opportunities. The close of the 2025/26 tax year is the first for which self-assessment tax returns need to be filed under the new regime, also accounting for changes to overseas workday relief. It provides a significant opportunity for businesses to review their relocation and assignment packages to make full use of applicable reliefs and attract talent to the UK
• More generally, the end-of-year reporting period is an opportunity for companies to review the efficiency of their employee incentives. Notably, recent changes to the Enterprise Management Incentive (EMI) legislation, effective from 6 April 2026, have broadened the eligibility criteria to companies that may not have previously qualified. They, and their employees, can now benefit from its attractive tax advantages, helping to drive behaviours and deliver growth 

Time employers spend on reporting is not wasted. It’s essential to collect and report accurate data to meet compliance and tax requirements. But it can also be an investment in the future of your employment and reward strategies, and the success of your businesses. 

By leveraging the data collected for compliance, businesses can unlock opportunities to improve the tax efficiency of their benefits and enhance the effectiveness of their rewards and incentive packages.  

To explore more, and discover how your employment data could help you be not just compliant but more competitive, talk to our experts or join our upcoming webinar on 22 April 2026.  

Approval code: NTEH7032616