More than 70,000 employers have been warned that they face penalties unless they submit employees’ Pay As You Earn (PAYE) information in real time.
Employers who have never used the new Real Time Information (RTI) system to file PAYE returns were sent an email in March telling them to do so by the end of the year.
Failure to send HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) their PAYE information by the end of the year will mean they face penalties of at least £100. Penalties will depend on how many people they employ and the length of time involved.
Ruth Owen, HMRC’s director general for personal tax, said on 17 March: “Over 99 per cent of PAYE records are being successfully reported in real time and the majority of businesses say they find the new system easy to use.
“So those who have not begun using the system should not stick their heads in the sand. They need to act now to ensure that they don’t get a penalty at the year end.” She said that employers who no longer need their PAYE schemes should tell HMRC as soon as possible.
PAYE schemes that pay their employees only annually, and which are registered with HMRC as annual schemes, should also make sure that they are ready to send their PAYE information to HMRC by the deadline.
