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Two weeks ago, we concluded looking at the Full Payment Summary (FPS).  This week, we look at the Employer Payment Summary (EPS).  The FPS and EPS are likely to be the two most common RTI submissions that an employer is required to make.

At the time the employees are paid, or before, RTI requires the FPS to be sent, giving details of the payments that have been made together with the associated tax, NICs and Student Loan deductions taken.  However, whilst the FPS allows the employer to report the value of tax, NICs, SSP, SMP, OSPP etc, it does not provide information to HMRC of the monthly or quarterly payments that are due to be made (by the 19^th, or 22^nd if paying electronically).  Remember, employers can make recoveries in respect of the statutory payments that they have made, at a level dependent on the legislation in force at the time, the amount of SSP compared to the level of gross NICs and whether the company is regarded as a ‘small employer’.

The EPS, therefore, allows the employer to notify HMRC of the reductions it is allowed to make to the totals already submitted via the FPS.  The EPS must be sent before the monthly or quarterly payment is due.  HMRC will, then, expect the monthly or quarterly payment to be the sum of the payments due from the FPS less the reductions notified via the EPS.

The EPS can also be used to notify HMRC when there is no payment due to be made (a ‘NIL Return’), for example, when there were no employees or subcontractors in a pay period.  It can also be used to alert HMRC that the remittance will not match the FPS total, for example, if there are amendments to be made from a previous tax year to be made with the next remittance.

HMRC are in the process of issuing guidance in the circumstance that EPS errors are made.  The indication is that if there is a mistake, once spotted, the whole EPS can be resubmitted with the correction made and the correct year-to-date totals showing.  Unlike correcting FPS errors, there is no requirement to show differences between the incorrect EPS and the correct EPS.  A list of the data items required for the regular EPS is provided below.  Note that all items have been flagged as mandatory; however, they will only be mandatory in the circumstances that they are applicable in the relevant month / quarter:

Further Information

• Payroll Help’s RTI Coverage
• Improving the Operation of Pay As You Earn (PAYE) – HMRC Impact Assessment
• Universal Credit – Welfare that Works
• Improving the Operation of Pay As You Earn (PAYE) – Collecting Real Time Information
• HMRC Press Statement 04 April 2011
• HMRC Statement 13 May 2011
• Summary of Responses 30 September 2011
• HMRC  – Draft RTI Regulations (PAYE)
• HMRC  – Draft RTI Regulations (NICs)
• HMRC  – Draft RTI Regulations (CIS)
• HMRC  – Draft PAYE Direction (Technical Note)
• NDS   – HMRC Press Statement 23 November 2011
• HMRC  - Employer Bulletin 39
• NDS  – HMRC Press Statement 12 December 2011
• HMRC  – Improving Your Payroll Data
• HMRC – Starters and Leavers Scenarios December 2011
• HMRC  – Technical Note ‘Proposal to Abolish the P45/P46 Forms’
• HMRC  – Initial Guidance on RTI Items May 2011
• HMRC  – Payroll Alignment January 2012
• HMRC  – PAYE Update 10 – NINO Verification Response (NVREP)

Related posts:

1. RTI – The Full Payment Submission (FPS) Part 1
2. RTI – The Submission Types
3. RTI – The Employer Alignment Submission (EAS)
4. Tax Return Penalties, HMRC Basic Tools, Single Compliance, Student Loans, Unfair Dismissal, NICs for Teachers, Unpaid Parental Leave , Double Taxation, RTI – Dump the Dummies, RTI – Leaver Statement and RTI – EPS.

Tags: EPS, FPS, HMRC, NICs, OSPP, RTI, smp, SSP, student loan

This entry was posted on Monday, February 20th, 2012 at 10:56 and is filed under RTI. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.