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How to fill in SA102 — the employment pages of a Self Assessment return

Form SA102 is the employment supplement to HMRC's Self Assessment tax return (SA100) — one page per employment or directorship, reporting the pay, tax, benefits and allowable expenses that go with a PAYE job or a company directorship.

For a personal representative it covers the same narrow slice of time as SA100 itself: the deceased's employment income from 6 April of that tax year up to the date they died, taken straight from the P45 or P60 the employer issues.

This walkthrough covers the gross-pay rule at box 1, the director and close-company questions, the P11D benefits crosswalk (and the double-counting trap if the employer already payrolled a benefit), the employment-expenses boxes, and box 6.1 — where a directorship that ended on death is recorded.

✓ Official source checked 23 August 2026 · GOV.UK last revised this form 6 April 2026SA102 on GOV.UK
Free
United KingdomInformational, not legal or financial adviceOfficial source: GOV.UK
Official form · always current

This is the same official SA102 file HM Revenue & Customs publishes on GOV.UK — the link below fetches the current version live from GOV.UK the moment you click it, so it can never go out of date.

Current version: December 2025 · confirmed on GOV.UK 23 August 2026

This walkthrough takes SA102 field by field, for the version of it a personal representative actually fills in. Box 1 is the gross figure from the P45 or P60, before tax — not take-home pay, and a directorship that ended on death goes in box 6.1 as the cessation date, not left blank.

The thing most people get wrong
In a death/estate context specifically, the final SA102 must cover income only up to the date of death — not a full tax year's P60 figure, which shouldn't normally exist for the final page but can if payroll ran on after death.

And for any directorship the deceased held, box 6.1 asks for the date it ceased: a directorship ends on death, so that date goes in box 6.1 — leaving it blank, or copying a resignation date from something else, is the easy mistake.
The form, in summary
Valoren
SA1022 pages26 fields guided
With Valoren25 minutes
Without Valoren1–2 hours
per employment · gathering the P45/P60 and any P11D, and working out which benefit box each entry belongs in
Deadline
31 Oct / 31 Jansame SA100 dates —
no separate one
Who Files
Executoror administrator, for
the deceased's final page
£
Fee
Freeattaches to
SA100, no fee
Filed with HMRC
Draws from your Estate File
the records this form is built from
PersonalFinancial Accounts·Digital Access Map·Asset Inventory·Income & Outgoings·Civil Dossier·Policy Index·Legal Instruments·Medical Abstract·Property Folio·Succession Plan·Digital Legacy Registry·Business Interests & Directorships·Funeral & Committal Wishes·Dependent Care & Handoff·Personal Record·RegistryMaster Registry·Renewal Register·People, Authority & Contacts·Designated Places·Kinship & Succession Map·SecureAccess Controls·Recovery Routes·Custody & Contingency·EventsDeath & Estate Activation·Incapacity & Medical Proxy·Absence & Continuity Cover·Access Loss & Identity Recovery·Legal Dispute & Evidence Protocol·Theft & Asset Compromise·Property Damage & Incident Response·Relocation & Address Update Protocol·Separation & Custody Documentation·Business Interruption & Continuity·PersonalFinancial Accounts·Digital Access Map·Asset Inventory·Income & Outgoings·Civil Dossier·Policy Index·Legal Instruments·Medical Abstract·Property Folio·Succession Plan·Digital Legacy Registry·Business Interests & Directorships·Funeral & Committal Wishes·Dependent Care & Handoff·Personal Record·RegistryMaster Registry·Renewal Register·People, Authority & Contacts·Designated Places·Kinship & Succession Map·SecureAccess Controls·Recovery Routes·Custody & Contingency·EventsDeath & Estate Activation·Incapacity & Medical Proxy·Absence & Continuity Cover·Access Loss & Identity Recovery·Legal Dispute & Evidence Protocol·Theft & Asset Compromise·Property Damage & Incident Response·Relocation & Address Update Protocol·Separation & Custody Documentation·Business Interruption & Continuity·
Legal basisStatute

SA102 doesn't create its own filing duty — it's a supplementary page attached to SA100, and the underlying obligation is section 8 of the Taxes Management Act 1970, which only bites once HMRC has given notice requiring a return.

What SA102 reports is charged under the Income Tax (Earnings and Pensions) Act 2003: employment earnings, benefits-in-kind and expenses. Only the employment-expenses boxes (17, 19 and 20) trace to a specific, separately-confirmed section — ITEPA 2003 s.336, the 'wholly, exclusively and necessarily' test — so treat any more granular section number behind a specific benefit box as unconfirmed rather than citing it as fact.

A separate SA102 page is required for every employment or directorship held in the year — the form's own instruction is 'complete an Employment page for each employment or directorship.'

Section by section

The form, section by section.

Before you start, you’ll need:
  • Who Files — Anyone required to file a paper SA100 who worked for an employer under PAYE, was a company director, held an office such as chairperson, secretary or treasurer, worked for one person through another company or partnership, or received foreign employment or directorship income. In Valoren's context, this is almost always the executor or administrator completing the deceased's final Self Assessment return — covering P45/P60 employment income and any directorship up to the date of death only, not the full tax year. This is standard practice for a final-year return, though it wasn't separately checked this session against a dedicated HMRC 'tax after death' guidance page, so treat it as the reasonable reading rather than a pinned citation.
  • 2 pages · 26 fields guided
  • Draws from your Estate File — Financial Accounts
Section 1

Before you file — one page per job, and what's different for a final year

SA102 only exists as an attachment to SA100, and it only covers one employment or directorship at a time. Confirm both before starting on the boxes.

One SA102 per employment or directorship

HMRC's own instruction: complete an Employment page for each employment or directorship held in the year.

Someone with a job and a directorship in the same tax year needs two SA102 pages, not one page listing both.

Who this covers, in Valoren's context

Anyone filing a paper SA100 who was employed under PAYE, was a company director, held an office such as chairperson, secretary or treasurer, or worked for one person through another company or partnership.

For a personal representative, this is almost always the deceased's own final-year return — the executor or administrator completing SA102 for whatever employment or directorship the deceased held up to the date of death.

The date that matters is the date of death

The final SA102 covers income only up to the date of death, not a full tax year.

If payroll continued past that date for any reason, don't use a P60 covering the full year — the figure needs to reflect pay up to death only.

No SA102-specific deadline

SA102 follows whatever deadline applies to the SA100 it attaches to: 31 October for a paper return, 31 January online, under section 8(1G)/(1H) of the Taxes Management Act 1970 — there's no separate date for the employment page itself.

SA102 only exists as an attachment to SA100, and it only covers one employment or directorship at a time. Confirm both before starting on the boxes.

HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) · SA102
Section 2

Boxes 1–8 — pay, tax, and directorships

The core pay block, on the left-hand column of the form. This is where the P45/P60 figures go, and where director and close-company status is declared.

Box 1 — the gross figure, not take-home pay

Total pay from this employment, from the P45 or P60, before tax was taken off.

This is the single most common error the notes guard against: using net take-home pay, or a payslip figure, instead of the P45/P60 gross total.

Box 1.1 — payrolled benefits affecting a student loan

Only relevant if the employer payrolled benefits-in-kind subject to Class 1A National Insurance, and those benefits affect a student or postgraduate loan repayment calculation.

Box 2 — tax taken off

UK tax taken off the box 1 pay, from the P60 — entered as a minus figure if the P60 carries an 'R' refund mark.

Box 3 — tips and other payments not on the P60

Anything received that wouldn't show on the employer's P60 figure.

Boxes 4–5 — employer's PAYE reference and name

The PAYE reference is shown as an office and reference number (for example '139/H345'); write 'None' if the employer doesn't have one.

Box 6 and 6.1 — director status, and the cessation date

Box 6 is a mandatory yes/no: was this a directorship? Box 6.1 asks for the date the directorship ceased, if before 6 April of the following year.

A directorship ends on death — for a final-year return, box 6.1 carries the date of death, not a resignation date.

Box 7 and 7.1–7.4 — close company

Box 7 asks whether the company was 'close' — UK-resident and controlled by its directors or by five or fewer people. If yes, boxes 7.1–7.4 ask for the company's name, its Companies House number, dividends received from it, and the shareholding percentage. If no, skip straight to box 8.

Box 8 — off-payroll (inside IR35) engagements

Only tick this where tax and National Insurance were already deducted at source by a fee-payer or agency before the pay reached the taxpayer.

Ordinary PAYE employment doesn't need this box ticked at all — confusing the two is a real source of error the notes flag directly.

The core pay block, on the left-hand column of the form. This is where the P45/P60 figures go, and where director and close-company status is declared.

HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) · SA102
Section 3

Boxes 9–16 — benefits, from the P11D

This block is sourced from the employer's P11D. The one rule that governs the whole section: never enter a benefit here that the employer already payrolled through PAYE.

The double-counting trap

If the employer has already 'payrolled' a benefit, it's already included in the box 1 figure taken from the P60.

Entering that same benefit again in boxes 9–16 double-counts it and overstates income — HMRC's own notes state this directly.

The P11D crosswalk

Each box number is designed to map onto a P11D section: box 9 covers company cars and vans, box 10 fuel for them, box 11 private medical or dental insurance, box 12 vouchers, credit cards and excess mileage allowance, box 13 goods or assets provided by the employer, box 14 employer-provided accommodation, box 15 other benefits including interest-free or low-interest loans, and box 16 expenses payments received and balancing charges.

No P11D, no entry

If nothing was payrolled and no P11D was issued, there's nothing to put in boxes 9–16 for that employment.

This block is sourced from the employer's P11D. The one rule that governs the whole section: never enter a benefit here that the employer already payrolled through PAYE.

HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) · SA102
Section 4

Boxes 17–20 — employment expenses

Costs the employee bore personally in doing the job. The test behind these boxes is set in statute, not just HMRC's own preference.

Box 17 — business travel and subsistence

Travel and subsistence costs for the job itself — not ordinary commuting between home and the usual workplace, which never qualifies.

Box 18 — fixed or flat-rate deductions

Only relevant where HMRC has already agreed a flat-rate deduction for the taxpayer's job or industry, shown on a P2 PAYE Coding Notice.

Box 19 — professional fees and subscriptions

Subscriptions to professional bodies on HMRC's approved list only.

Box 20 — other expenses and capital allowances

Small equipment, protective clothing, home-working costs, and capital allowances on plant or machinery — not cars or vans, which are excluded here.

The statutory test behind all four boxes

Section 336 of the Income Tax (Earnings and Pensions) Act 2003 sets the test: an expense is only deductible if incurred wholly, exclusively and necessarily in doing the job.

This is a narrower test than 'the job made me spend it' — it's why home-working and equipment claims are frequently restricted.

Costs the employee bore personally in doing the job. The test behind these boxes is set in statute, not just HMRC's own preference.

HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) · SA102
Section 5

What's not on SA102, and after you file

A short note on what belongs elsewhere, and the two document deadlines that sit around this form even though they aren't HMRC filing dates.

What moves to SA101 instead

Share schemes, employment lump sums and compensation, and the Seafarers' Earnings Deduction are deliberately not on SA102 — they go on the separate SA101 'Additional information' pages.

The P60 and P11D dates

The employer must issue the P60 by 31 May following the tax year end. If a P11D showing benefits hasn't arrived by 6 July, HMRC's own notes say to chase the employer directly — that's HMRC's deadline for employers to issue it, not a filing date of your own.

Changing this year's tax code

If a change to boxes 17–20 should update the CURRENT year's PAYE tax code, HMRC needs to be told before 1 January — later than that, the change won't reach the code in time for that tax year.

A short note on what belongs elsewhere, and the two document deadlines that sit around this form even though they aren't HMRC filing dates.

HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) · SA102

Many people file SA102 themselves — that is what this walkthrough is for. If the situation behind it has stopped being simple — beyond what a careful person can safely do alone — Signum, Valoren’s own specialist desk, can take it on, and we say so plainly: it starts with a free intake, and if you do not need us, we will tell you. Prefer an independent adviser? STEP and the Chartered Institute of Taxation both keep public member directories, and neither pays Valoren a referral fee.

FAQ

SA102 questions, answered.

SA102 is the employment supplement to the main SA100 Self Assessment return. It reports pay, tax deducted, benefits-in-kind and allowable expenses for one employment or directorship.
Yes. HMRC's own instruction is to complete an Employment page for each employment or directorship held in the year — one SA102 per job, not one page listing several.
No. Box 1 is the gross total pay shown on the P45 or P60, before any tax was taken off.

Using a net or take-home figure — or a single payslip instead of the P45/P60 total — is the error HMRC's own notes specifically warn against.
The date the directorship ceased. A directorship ends on the date of death, so for a final-year return that's the date to enter — not a resignation date, and not left blank.
Only if the employer has NOT already 'payrolled' the benefit through PAYE. A payrolled benefit is already included in the box 1 figure from the P60 — entering it again in boxes 9–16 double-counts it and overstates income. If a P11D was issued separately for the benefit, it goes in the matching box.
HMRC's own notes say that if a P11D hasn't arrived by 6 July, chase the employer directly — that's HMRC's own deadline for employers to issue it.
No. Share schemes, employment lump sums and compensation, and the Seafarers' Earnings Deduction all move to the separate SA101 'Additional information' pages instead.

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Where this fits

SA102 is one form. The file behind it is the rest.

Every figure on SA102 traces back to what the deceased's employer issued — the P45 or P60 gross pay figure, and any P11D showing benefits and expenses.

The Financial Accounts record holds exactly that paperwork, gathered once and ready to check against whichever employment page HMRC's SA100 letter is asking for.

HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC)26 fieldsFree to file — it's a supplement to SA100, not a separate submission with its own fee25 minutes with Valoren
Attaches to the main return

This is a supplementary page. It's filed together with the main Self Assessment return, not on its own.

The main return — SA100
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