Overseas staff visiting the UK? Build a short-term visitor PAYE evidence trail

Start with the UK work and the employer relationship

HM Revenue & Customs published new Guidelines for Compliance on 13 August 2026 for short-term business visitors (STBVs): people who normally work overseas but perform duties in the UK for a short period. If your business hosts these workers, use the guidance as a prompt to make the movement, payroll and treaty evidence traceable.

Do not classify someone as outside PAYE simply because their contract and salary sit overseas. HMRC says the UK duties, the employer’s UK tax presence and the relevant double-taxation treaty all matter. A UK host may have PAYE responsibilities even where another group company pays the remuneration. The treaty wording is not interchangeable: check the version that applies to the employment period and whether its conditions are met.

Record the facts for each visit before deciding how it will be reported. Note the employing entity, UK host, dates and places of work, who directs the work, who benefits from it, where the cost is borne and whether the worker has UK duties outside the planned visit. A recharge is relevant, but HMRC says it should be considered alongside supervision, control and the benefit and risk of the work.

Make the day count reproducible

Do not rely on an email estimate. For the treaty-style 183-day test, HMRC says a UK day is a day of physical presence at any time, including arrival and departure days, weekends, leave and sickness. That is different from the workday count used for some PAYE arrangements. Record the source of each entry, such as travel evidence, an approved calendar or the worker’s periodic report, and keep UK and non-UK workdays distinct.

If an EP Appendix 4 arrangement is in use, HMRC says the employer must have adequate systems to track movements. Its annual reporting bands are 1–60, 61–90, 91–150 and 151–183 days, with reports due by 31 May after the tax year. The arrangement is not a generic exemption: it depends on conditions including treaty coverage, the expected stay and the economic-employer facts. HMRC may cancel it if an annual report is late or insufficient.

Assemble the evidence pack HMRC describes

HMRC’s August guidance says PAYE records must be kept for at least three years from the end of the relevant tax year. For an STBV, the supporting pack may include the employment contract; correspondence describing UK duties and remuneration; UK days and workdays supported by travel documents; expenses, bonuses and benefits; share-plan participation; and documents supporting a decision that National Insurance contributions are not due.

The list is not exhaustive, and HMRC says what is sufficient depends on the facts. Keep the evidence with the decision, not in separate inboxes. Add the reviewer, date, arrangement relied on, treaty checked and any unresolved question. That lets a payroll reviewer reproduce the decision without treating an internal checklist as an HMRC approval.

Check the exceptions before payroll closes

Separate Income Tax from National Insurance. HMRC says treaty relief does not automatically remove PAYE obligations, and National Insurance follows social-security agreements or UK rules rather than the income-tax treaty. If the Appendix 4 conditions fail, a worker changes duties or residence, the UK entity becomes the economic employer, or the day count changes, revisit the payroll treatment and preserve the reason for the change.

HMRC includes participation in share schemes and one-off awards among the records that may matter for an STBV. Do not let a clean visitor log stand in for a separate equity-events review where the business has an employee share plan.

What a review should be able to answer

For every visitor, ask whether another person could answer these questions from the saved pack: which days counted, what duties were performed, who bore the remuneration, which treaty and arrangement were relied on, how Income Tax and National Insurance were considered, and what payroll or annual report was sent. HMRC says poor monitoring, missing records, or treaty conditions not being met while PAYE was not operated are circumstances likely to prompt further questions in a compliance check.

If the evidence is incomplete, stop treating the original classification as settled. Escalate the facts to the person responsible for international payroll or professional advice, correct the record where needed, and retain the correction trail.