PAYE registration & P11D dispensation for a 1-person company

[Incredulum]

An individual incorporates a company, with himself as the sole director/employee. IR35 is not in point.

He does not intend to pay himself a salary, only dividends. Is there a need to register for PAYE?

What about a P11D dispensation to cover expenses? Can you get one without being PAYE registered? Is it acceptable for the expenses to be reviewed by a third party non-employee like a friend?

[MrPAYE]

A P11D Dispensation request without a PAYE ref number would totally bamboozle HMRC (not hard I know) so if expenses are being paid then the answer is yes you would need a PAYE ref number setup to either file P11Ds or request a Dispensation.

A third party reviewer is normally required to be an accountant/advisor or such like. I'm sure this is written down somewhere. A friend would likely not be acceptable for obvious reasons.

[robbob]

Providing receipts are kept for all expenditure then HMRC can grant a dispensation even if there is no third party checking of the claims - providing the company is a one man bad company as you describe.

http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/paye/exb/schemes/dispensation.htm

If it is not possible for you to operate an independent system for checking and authorising expenses claims - for example, because you are the sole director of your company and you have no other employees - you will only be able to obtain a dispensation if you:
ensure all expenses claims are supported by receipts for the expenditure
demonstrate that the claim relates to expenditure that can be covered by a dispensation - your receipts may be sufficient for this purpose.

[Incredulum]

Thanks, both.