What is Real Time Information (RTI)?

Real Time Information (RTI) was introduced in April 2013, changing the way that employers report PAYE to HMRC. Until that point employers were only required to report the details of employee payments and deductions to HMRC just once every 12 months, at year end.

With RTI in place, employers now submit this information to HMRC each time they make a payment to an employee, no matter how many hours that person has worked. The employee payment information is sent to HMRC using online submissions through payroll software, or using HMRC’s Basic PAYE Tools.

What are Full Payment Submissions (FPS)?

Employers need to report employee payment information to HMRC before or on each payday using a Full Payment Submission (FPS). The FPS tells HMRC about the payments you have made to your employees, as well as the details of any deductions, such as for tax or NI.

Each FPS should include:

• the details of employees that you’ve paid in that pay period (so if someone hasn’t been paid, don’t include them in the FPS)
• information about employee pay and deductions
• your PAYE and Accounts Office references, which HMRC will have sent when you registered as an employer
• employer information
• National Insurance information

Use the same information and payroll ID for employees each time, and these should match what you have already reported to HMRC. This ensures that the correct record is traced to avoid any errors.

You should also include extra information in your FPS about any new employees or leavers, or if you start to paying an employee a workplace pension.

Although a FPS is submitted every time a payment is made, the final FPS of the tax year will include a declaration that it is the final payment of the year.

When should I send an Employer Payment Summary?

An Employer Payment Summary (EPS) is another type of RTI submission.

• You can submit an EPS as well as a FPS. For example, if you reclaim some types of statutory pay, such as Statutory Maternity Pay (SMP), or CIS deductions as a limited company. If this is the case, you’ll need to send the EPS by the 19th of the following tax month for HMRC to reduce what you owe from your FPS.
• You can submit an EPS instead of a FPS if you haven’t paid any employees in that tax month. This tells HMRC that no payments have been made for that period (so that it doesn’t just look like you forgot to submit a FPS).

About The Author

Karl Bilby

We work very closely with our expert accountants to bring you the latest factually correct tax and accounting news. We also enjoy writing about small business news that we hope you find useful!