Payroll year-end checklist for Jamaica

The end of the year is the busiest time for anyone who runs payroll in Jamaica. PAYE is worked out on a calendar year, so once the last pay day of December is done, every employer has to make the year's numbers add up, give staff their P24s and file the S02 with Tax Administration Jamaica (TAJ).

Use this checklist to get it right the first time.

Before the last pay day of the year

• Check every employee's details. Each employee needs a correct TRN and NIS number, name and date of birth. Wrong or missing numbers are the most common reason returns are rejected or employees' contributions go missing.
• Record anyone who left during the year. Every leaver should have been given a P45 showing their pay and tax to the date they left.
• Bring in new starters' P45s. If someone joined from another employer this year, their earlier pay and tax must be included, or their PAYE for the year will be wrong.
• Check pension and other deductions. Approved pension contributions reduce statutory income, so they change PAYE and Education Tax. Make sure the amounts are right for the whole year.
• Pay any bonuses and back pay before the year closes if you want them in this year's figures.

After the last pay day: make the numbers agree

• Agree the payroll to the S01s. The year's totals for PAYE, NIS, NHT, Education Tax and HEART in your payroll should match what you declared on the twelve monthly S01 returns.
• Agree the S01s to what you paid. Check the amounts paid to TAJ each month against what each S01 said was due. Pay any shortfall quickly to limit penalties and interest.
• Check each employee's year. Look for anyone with negative pay, unusually high or low tax, or NIS above the yearly wage ceiling.
• Close every pay period. Once a period is final, lock it so no one can change figures you have already reported.

The year-end returns

• P24 for every employee. The P24 shows the employee's pay and the tax and deductions taken for the year. Give one to everyone you employed during the year — they need it for their own records and for any tax refund.
• S02 annual return. The S02, with its supporting schedules, reports the year's pay and statutory deductions for every employee. It is filed electronically with TAJ and is due by 31 March of the following year.
• Keep copies. Keep the S02, the P24s and the payroll records behind them. You may be asked for them in an audit years later.

Getting ready for the new year

• Watch for rate changes. The income tax threshold and statutory rates usually change with the Budget, often from 1 April. Make sure your payroll uses the new figures from the right date.
• Start the new year clean. Year-to-date totals go back to zero on the first pay day of January.
• Back up the year. Keep a copy of the closed year before you start the new one.

How EPSPayX handles year-end

EPSPayX payroll software tracks your S01 every month across all your pay cycles, then produces the S02 with Schedules A, B and C, the electronic annual return for e-filing, and P24s you can print or email to staff — along with the P45, P9, P35 and the other year-end forms. Closed periods are locked, so the figures you file are the figures in your payroll.

New to the deductions themselves? Start with our guide to PAYE, NIS, NHT, Education Tax and HEART.