HMRC has urged employers to start getting ready for Real Time Information (RTI) now if they have not already done so. The first ‘real time’ return will be due on or before the first employee payday on or after 6 April 2013 for the vast majority of employers.
The Federation of Small Businesses has proposed an alternative system of ‘Regular Time Information’ under which employers could submit returns once a month, the Financial Times reported. The paper quoted Mike Cherry, the FSB’s policy chairman, as saying that the changes were ‘incredibly burdensome’ and could not be coming in at a worse moment.
Earlier this month the Forum of Private Business said a recent survey of members showed that ‘while the majority of firms now understood the implications of RTI, a worrying number were still in the dark’.
Guidance
HMRC insists that reporting PAYE in real time will be ‘quicker, easier and more accurate for employers’. Guidance is provided on the HMRC website.
HMRC said in a press release yesterday that employers using third party payroll software should speak to their provider to make sure the software will allow them to meet RTI obligations from April 2013. For those who do not use software, HMRC provides a list of recognised products on its website. ‘HMRC’s free basic software, Basic PAYE Tools, will also be available for the smallest employers (with nine or fewer employees),’ the department said.
Penalties
‘We want to help and support all businesses to make the change so we will therefore not be imposing any penalties for in-year late reporting until 2014,’ HMRC said.
The Chartered Institute of Taxation has called for further extensions to the penalty free period so that no penalties are levied on employers submitting inaccurate returns until April 2014, and no penalties are imposed until April 2015 for employers such as care and support employers who will join the system in April 2014.
‘It seems odd that the penalty for inaccuracies in RTI returns will be in place from summer 2013, said Colin Ben-Nathan, chairman of the CIOT’s employment taxes committee, in a press release on 13 February. ‘Employers may take the view that it is best to delay filing if there is a risk they could be penalised for an inadvertent mistake.’
HMRC has urged employers to start getting ready for Real Time Information (RTI) now if they have not already done so. The first ‘real time’ return will be due on or before the first employee payday on or after 6 April 2013 for the vast majority of employers.
The Federation of Small Businesses has proposed an alternative system of ‘Regular Time Information’ under which employers could submit returns once a month, the Financial Times reported. The paper quoted Mike Cherry, the FSB’s policy chairman, as saying that the changes were ‘incredibly burdensome’ and could not be coming in at a worse moment.
Earlier this month the Forum of Private Business said a recent survey of members showed that ‘while the majority of firms now understood the implications of RTI, a worrying number were still in the dark’.
Guidance
HMRC insists that reporting PAYE in real time will be ‘quicker, easier and more accurate for employers’. Guidance is provided on the HMRC website.
HMRC said in a press release yesterday that employers using third party payroll software should speak to their provider to make sure the software will allow them to meet RTI obligations from April 2013. For those who do not use software, HMRC provides a list of recognised products on its website. ‘HMRC’s free basic software, Basic PAYE Tools, will also be available for the smallest employers (with nine or fewer employees),’ the department said.
Penalties
‘We want to help and support all businesses to make the change so we will therefore not be imposing any penalties for in-year late reporting until 2014,’ HMRC said.
The Chartered Institute of Taxation has called for further extensions to the penalty free period so that no penalties are levied on employers submitting inaccurate returns until April 2014, and no penalties are imposed until April 2015 for employers such as care and support employers who will join the system in April 2014.
‘It seems odd that the penalty for inaccuracies in RTI returns will be in place from summer 2013, said Colin Ben-Nathan, chairman of the CIOT’s employment taxes committee, in a press release on 13 February. ‘Employers may take the view that it is best to delay filing if there is a risk they could be penalised for an inadvertent mistake.’
