You’re legally obliged to let The Pensions Regulator know you’ve completed your auto enrolment duties.
- You’ll need to complete an online declaration of compliance which you’ll find on The Pensions Regulator’s website.
- This has to be done within five months after your duties start date, which is the day your first member of staff joined the company.
- Your duties start date can’t be changed, and you could be fined if you fail to complete a declaration of compliance within this timeframe. It’s one of your legal duties to let them know that you’re legally compliant with auto enrolment law.
What you need to provide
Letter codes
To complete your declaration of compliance, you’ll need the 10-digit letter code provided by The Pensions Regulator (TPR). You can find the letter code beginning with ‘1’ on any correspondence you’ve received from TPR.
If you don’t yet have a letter code, contact TPR with the following information:
- Accounts office reference number.
- PAYE scheme reference(s).
PAYE reference
Your PAYE reference should also be on your letters from TPR or HMRC, as well as on your payroll software.
Other information required
- Number of people in employment on your duties start date, and how many of those have already been enrolled.
- Details about your pension scheme, particularly the employer pension scheme reference (EPSR) or pension scheme registry number (PSR number).
Use the Pension Regulator’s checklist to make sure your submission is correct.
The Pensions Regulator provides a complete list (PDF 104KB) of information you’re required to give.
When to complete the declaration
Remember, your declaration of compliance must be completed within the first five months after your duties start date.
If you’re a new employer, your auto enrolment duties will begin on the same date as your PAYE duties, which will be referred to as your duties start date.
Start early, complete later
Although it’s a good idea to start filling in your declaration of compliance before your auto enrolment duties begin, you can only complete it after your duties start date. This is because you’ll need to give The Pension Regulator an accurate picture of every single person in your employment on the day they start.
If you decide to postpone auto enrolment
If you’ve decided to use postponement, you’ll need to wait until the end of the postponement period before you submit your declaration of compliance. This is because you need to have assessed your workforce and auto-enrolled the relevant workers before completing the declaration of compliance. As a result, there might only be a short period of time where you can complete the declaration.
Find out more about auto enrolment
Auto enrolment doesn’t have to be challenging. We’ve got all the information you need to get up and running with your workplace pension scheme.
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