HMRC updates PAYE late payment and penalties guidance
HMRC has update the guidance on what payroll information to report to HMRC in the Full Payment Submission (FPS) and Employer Payment Summary (EPS) for PAYE payments, which include changes to late reporting guidance
The guidance states that a business which sends a FPS after an employee’s payday, needs to let HMRC know why in the ‘late reporting reason’ field. HMRC supplies an individual code to be used for specific circumstances, along with details of when to make a report.
Employers with a ‘reasonable excuse’, which covers exceptional circumstances beyond their control, should report as soon as possible. An employer who needs to correct an earlier payroll report should do so on the next regular FPS, or an additional FPS. This needs to be sent by the 19th of the tax month after the original FPS for HMRC to show the correction in that month’s PAYE bill.
Employers who have an employee who is either paid less than £112 a week or has worked for them for less than a week need to report within seven days of paying that employee. The same rule applies where employees are paid based on their work on the day (for example, harvest workers paid based on how much they pick).
Employers who pay an employee an expense or benefit where must pay NICs, but not income tax, should be paid through payroll must report within 14 days of the end of the tax month.
An overseas employer paying an expat employee directly or through a third party needs to report by the 19th of the tax month after making the payment. Employers paying employees in shares at less than market value, along with employers making any other non-cash payment (for example, vouchers or credit tokens) to employees, also have to report by the 19th of the tax month after making the payment.
The guidance also states that employers who were allowed by HMRC to report monthly instead of the normal way because they were an existing employer on 5 April 2014 and had fewer than 10 employees on 6 April 2015 can, until 5 April 2016, choose to report monthly on or before the last payday in the tax month.
HMRC warns that if HMRC disagrees with the reasons stated for late filing or employers fail to send a FPS or EPS, businesses are at risk of receiving a filing notice. Penalties for late reporting started from 6 October 2014.
Updated HMRC guidance on what payroll information to report is here
Source: AccountancyLive – HMRC updates PAYE late payment and penalties guidance
