RTI - No payments

RTI - No payments

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We have a number of clients were we traditionally put through a directors salary at month 12 and make no other payroll payments in the year.

Under RTI I was expecting the process to continue but the clients in question have now had letters to say that no RTI submissions have been made and the client must act.

I was then expecting a facility somewhere on the HMRC website where I could go on and report that no payments had been made but I am now informed that the only mechanism for doing this is by making and FPS with no payments on.

This would obviously mean loading each company on to our payroll system and filing the FPS - I understand that there is a facility like the CIS system where you can say that you don't expect to pay anyone in the next six months but we will then have to do this again later in the year and we will then process at month 12 effectively meaning that the payroll file has to be pulled out 3 times rather than once in any given year.

Is my understanding correct? Is there a better way?

Can I change to annual schemes? but would this remove the flexibility of being able to make a payment any time?

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Euan's picture
By Euan MacLennan
02nd Aug 2013 10:03

Haven't you been paying any attention to RTI?

Here is the guidance on Annual Schemes.  HMRC had suspended processing applications to be treated as an annual scheme, but they announced just last Thursday that they were open for business again.

If you are not approved as an Annual Scheme, you must file RTI reports at least monthly - an FPS on or before each payment to an employee or a nil EPS if there are no payments to any employees in a tax month.  Yes - there is included in the RTI specification the ability to specify a period of inactivity, but not all software providers offer the facility, on the grounds that as you have to file a RTI report at least monthly, you can notify a non-payment each month.

However, you cannot just attempt to replicate under RTI whatever may have been convenient to you in the past with regard to payroll processing.  If your clients actually pay themselves every month - typically £640 or £641 in 2013/14, so that no NIC or tax is due under PAYE - you must file an FPS every month on or before the date of payment.

We do this for over 40 clients using Moneysoft's RTI batch processing facility - you don't have to run a payroll or produce payslips for each client; instead, you just add the client to the batch list and once a month, with a couple of mouse clicks, you file the RTI reports for all the clients.  You have to set up the payroll details at the start of each year, instead of at the end as you were doing previously.

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By paulhelliker
03rd Sep 2013 11:18

Confusing

I have quite a few I have now applied for the annual schemes for although this is being delayed as did not have 64-8s in.

 

One Client has had an estimated PAYE liability notice as no EPS or FPS have been submitted - despite the fact they have never paid anyone.

 

Client phoned them and were told that even if put on the annual scheme they would need to file EPS for the months to date??

 

I can find nothing stating this. Anyone?

 

Also anyone actually know a way to submit a nil EPS? I use Quickbooks and don't think I could use that without setting up the Company. I expected something on the HMRC online interface to do it but cannot see it. You would have thought that would be the sensible place to put it....

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