2026/2027 New Starter Checklist – getting prepared

The HMRC Software Developer Support Team have kindly issued the new adjusted HMRC ‘New Starter Checklist’ to software developers to aid preparation for the 2026/2027 tax year.

This new format comes into operation for payroll paying from 6th April 2026. Many years ago these were referenced as a P46 and that name continues to sometimes be used. There will also be an electronic format made available for the new tax year.

The checklist has been adjusted due to the introduction of Student Loan Plan 5 as deduction commence from 6th April 2026.

It is important for employers to capture the student loan responses where an employee provided P45 indicates student loans apply.

New Starter Checklist for PAYE (2026/2027+)

This is the replacement starter checklist:

Use the starter checklist to:

• get information you need about a new employee to complete payroll
• get information on Student and Postgraduate Loans where the P45, if presented, indicated a continuation of Student Loan.
• give information to your employer for your employer to complete payroll

There are 2 versions of the starter checklist for new employees available to use:

• up to 5th April 2026
• from 6th April 2026 onwards

You can download the new form:

Which Student Loan to apply?

The major change to the checklist is the addition of Student Loan Plan 5 as deductions start from 6th April 2026. This section is also required for those who present a P45 that indicates that student loan or postgraduate loan is to continue.

The questions have been revised in a way to only capture the current and applicable Plan type to be deducted whether plan 5, 1, 2 or 4, only only one type can be applied and deducted at any one time. Changes are notified by the issue of an SL1 instruction by HMRC.

What if I receive an SL1 notification for a different Plan?

Although a graduate may have had multiple plan types during their education, once the higher priority plan type has been repaid, then the next with an outstanding amount applies and HMRC may issue an instruction to apply a different plan type. Equally, they may have ticked the wrong plan type on the starter checklist.

When changing plan types, HMRC do not issue am SL2 stop notice (they stop all and any plan 1, 2, 4 or 5 as they are not plan specific). They issue an SL1 student loan start communication with the new plan type to be applied. When received change the student loan to the plan type indicated so that deductions continue,

Postgraduate loan recovery can also apply in parallel.

So the new questions?

The questions for use for those whose first payment of wages will be from 6th April 2026 in relation to student and postgraduate loans will be:

Some individuals may have multiple student loan plan types, and even a postgraduate student loan as well to be repaid. So they may be confused or tempted to tick multiple boxes that may apply to them. If they do, which should the employer apply?

If the postgraduate loan box is ticked, then apply postgraduate Loan deductions regardless of any other plan type setting.

For Plans 1, 2, 4 or the new Plan 5 there is a priority based on which has the lowest loan threshold which will trigger a deduction.

So on that basis where multiples may have been ticked use the first ticked in the order of priority of:

• Plan 5
• Plan 1
• Plan 2
• Plan 4

Student loans are not deductible until 6th April following the ending of their course. Sometimes individuals declare they have loans earlier than they should, especially those who have recently graduated the prior summer!

What about tax for Scotland and Wales?

The starter checklist provides no capability to identify a Scottish or Welsh tax payer. The new employee cannot declare themselves as either. instead an assumptive tax code is to be applied until HMRC issue a tax code notification such as a P6.

The exception is for employees who have presented a valid in date P45 from their former employer that contains the relevant prefix C or S. otherwise, the start tax codes for England and Northern Ireland (sometimes referred to as the rest of the U.K. or rUK).

So the following apply for the tax year 2026/2927 in relation to the start tick box where no valid P45 has been presented:

• Statement A – 1257L cumulative
• Statement B – 1257L non-cumulative Week 1 / Month 1 basis
• Statement C – BR cumulative
• None declared – 0T non-cumulative Week 1 / Month 1 basis and deckare tick box C on the FPS submission.

It is worth noting that HMRC consider that declaration C with tax code 0T/1 on the Full Payment Submission (FPS) is a failure on the part of the employer to obtain the correct details from their employee. There is an expectation that the employer will have requested a P45, and if not available they have not waited but required completion of the starter checklist in time for the first payment and FPS submission to HMRC.

PAYadvice.UK 6/12/2025 updated 16/12/2026