{"id":3464,"date":"2026-02-25T09:36:10","date_gmt":"2026-02-25T09:36:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.robbtax.co.uk\/blog\/?p=3464"},"modified":"2026-02-25T09:36:25","modified_gmt":"2026-02-25T09:36:25","slug":"is-your-payroll-prepared-for-the-rise-in-state-pension-age","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.robbtax.co.uk\/blog\/is-your-payroll-prepared-for-the-rise-in-state-pension-age\/","title":{"rendered":"Is your payroll prepared for the rise in State Pension age?"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>From 6 April 2026, the State Pension age (SPA) will start increasing from 66 to 67 years old.<\/p>\n<p><!--more--><\/p>\n<p>Although the increase will be phased in over the course of two years, it will have an immediate impact on your payroll and compliance requirements.<\/p>\n<p>If your payroll systems are not ready, you risk making incorrect National Insurance (NI) deductions and that can quickly lead to reporting errors and HMRC enquiries.<\/p>\n<h3><strong>What is changing to SPA?<\/strong><\/h3>\n<p>The increase in SPA will be phased in between April 2026 and March 2028.<\/p>\n<p>Individuals born between 6 April 1960 and 5 March 1961 will reach SPA at 66 years and a specified number of months.<\/p>\n<p>The Government has published the specific dates in its <a href=\"https:\/\/assets.publishing.service.gov.uk\/media\/5a7f02e640f0b62305b84929\/spa-timetable.pdf\">State Pension age timetable<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>As life expectancy has risen, the Government has gradually increased SPA.<\/p>\n<p>Over the past 15 years, it has already moved from 60 to 65 for women and from 65 to 66 for both men and women.<\/p>\n<p>It is crucial employers know that once an employee reaches SPA, they stop paying employee NI contributions.<\/p>\n<p>However, you must still pay employer Class 1 NI contributions.<\/p>\n<h3><strong>What does the SPA change mean for employers?<\/strong><\/h3>\n<p>Employers must carefully monitor employees approaching SPA and ensure their NI deductions do not stop too early or continue for too long.<\/p>\n<p>When an employee reaches SPA:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Their NI category letter must change to \u2018C\u2019 in payroll systems<\/li>\n<li>Employee NI deductions must stop<\/li>\n<li>Employer NI contributions must continue<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>When the NI category changes due to employees reaching SPA, this is treated as a mid-year category letter change.<\/p>\n<p>Payroll teams must continue reporting year-to-date figures under the original category letter separately until the end of the tax year.<\/p>\n<p>Employers must also obtain proof of age from their employee to prove they have reached SPA. This can include:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>A passport<\/li>\n<li>A birth certificate<\/li>\n<li>An existing CA4140 certificate of age exception (although new certificates are no longer issued)<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Failure to apply these changes correctly could result in incorrect deductions and compliance issues.<\/p>\n<h3><strong>How can you prepare your payroll for the SPA increase?<\/strong><\/h3>\n<p>Employers should not be waiting until April rolls around and be sure their payroll systems are compliant.<\/p>\n<p>You can prepare for the upcoming SPA changes by:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Identifying employees born between 6 April 1960 and 5 March 1961<\/li>\n<li>Using the Government <a href=\"https:\/\/www.gov.uk\/state-pension-age?&amp;utm_source=au&amp;utm_campaign=spa67&amp;utm_content=19_february_2026\">State Pension age calculator<\/a> to confirm individual SPA dates<\/li>\n<li>Making sure your payroll systems can handle mid-year category changes correctly<\/li>\n<li>Training payroll staff on updated reporting requirements<\/li>\n<li>Reviewing internal processes for collecting and recording proof of age<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h3><strong>How can we support your payroll processes?<\/strong><\/h3>\n<p>The upcoming changes to the SPA will affect your payroll compliance, workforce planning and even retirement strategy discussions with your senior employees.<\/p>\n<p>With the right financial support, you can ensure your payroll stays accurate and remain aware of your employees\u2019 and your own NI requirements.<\/p>\n<p>Our professional team can help assess whether your payroll systems are prepared for the reforms and ensure correct NI category handling.<\/p>\n<p>As more employees stay on in their role for longer, we can help forecast the workforce costs and assess how this will affect your cash flow.<\/p>\n<p><strong>For further advice or support with your payroll, contact our team today.<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>From 6 April 2026, the State Pension age (SPA) will start increasing from 66 to 67 years old.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":3467,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[11,89],"tags":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v24.3 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Is your payroll prepared for the rise in State Pension age? 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