Authentication Errors When Submitting P11Ds or P46(car)

Modified on Sat, 5 Jul at 11:08 AM

Background

When using the system's end of year or P46 (car) File by Internet (FBI) functionality, the P11D Organiser will need to use your Government Gateway username and password in order to make the submission successfully.

The Process

How the Prepare and Send Submission functions work:

When you click the Prepare button, the username and password you have entered are verified against the Government Gateway. It is important to remember that this process ONLY checks that the credential pair you have entered are actually valid!
If the software starts building the preparation report, then the credentials you entered are valid, if not, you will need to go back and re-enter the details (see below).
When the Prepare has finished, assuming there are no parsing errors, the Send Submission button will become active.
Clicking the Send Submission button will send your information to HMRC - please remember that you can only have ONE successful P11D submission per PAYE reference per year, so don't do this as a 'test'.
Once you have clicked Send Submission, the P11D Organiser will then present the Government Gateway your credentials AND the PAYE reference - this check can ONLY occur on a live submission.
If you get an authentication error at this point, it is likely that although you have entered a valid username and password, they are not the correct credentials for that PAYE reference. Our advice here would be to double check the credentials you have and re-enter as necessary (see below). It is also recommended that you double check the PAYE reference and Accounts Office reference that is entered in the P11D Organiser on the HMRC Details tab.

Please note: You may possibly get an XML error back from the Government Gateway saying that although the username, password and PAYE reference are correct, that particular PAYE reference has not been enrolled for Benefits & Expenses submissions - this is something you'll have to address on the Government Gateway site direct, it is not something with which we can assist.

Amending the details in the system

To amend the HMRC credentials you need to navigate to the View Employer Details screen and click on the HMRC Details option.

From here you can click on the Set Gateway sender ID and password button, delete what is there and carefully re-enter your details.

Checking your sender ID and password with the Government Gateway

We recommend that you use the HMRC's own websites to check that you are entering the correct credentials (username and password).

Use the links below to check if you can login successfully to the Government Gateway:

Amending the Government Gateway Sender ID and Password

Once you have verified these with the Government Gateway and have then successfully logged in to the Government Gateway, you should return to the P11D Organiser, go to the HMRC Details tab, on the employer screen, and then click the large Set Gateway sender ID and password button at the bottom of the screen. In the windows that appears, delete the sender ID and password that are there, and re-enter the details as detailed above.

Checking your Company Name & PAYE Reference number

Another possible cause of authentication error can be the PAYE reference, Company Name or Accounts office reference saved in the system have been entered incorrectly. Check these by navigating to the Company Details screen, and hitting the HMRC Details tab. For example. ensure the first 3 digits of the PAYE Reference number has been mistakenly entered twice!