RTI pilot reminder letters being sent in error

[inniAccounts]

Over the last few days a number of our clients have received a letter from HMRC entitled "Your PAYE filing deadline is approaching. You need to ACT NOW." This letter is prompting them to make RTI submissions at the end the 2012/13 tax year, instead of submitting the normal P14s and P35. (You can see a copy at the bottom this this page).

This won't be a surprise if you've opted into the RTI Pilot. A number of companies have been using RTI since the end of last year. If that's you, you can stop reading now!

HOWEVER, the problem is that HMRC have inadvertently enrolled a number of companies on to the RTI Pilot without the permission of the company owners or their accountants / agents. Hence why you might find it surprising to receive this letter.

We've been in touch with HMRC and it would appear that any PAYE schemes that were set up after Oct 2012 have been automatically enrolled into the RTI pilot, without notification. HMRC are expecting these companies to start submitting real time payroll information ahead of the 6th April go-live date.

What you need to do
If you've received this letter you have two choices - if you're ready for / already using RTI you should continue to make your submissions electronically. You won't need to submit P14s / a P35.

If you're not ready for RTI yet you can call HMRC's Employer's Helpline on 08457 143 143 (option 3, option 3) - they can remove you from the pilot which will allow you to submit P14s and a P35 instead.

Of course, if your accountant takes care of your payroll you should give them a quick tinkle if you get this letter and didn't expect it.

[cojak]

[LisaContractorUmbrella]

Oh dear - you just know that RTI roll out is going to go horribly, horribly wrong

[inniAccounts]

Oh dear - you just know that RTI roll out is going to go horribly, horribly wrong

Possibly.

However I suspect most of the problems will come as a result of payroll bureaus / accountants not getting (or not listening) to the advice that comes from HMRC, via their payroll software vendor.

The advice and support that's come from the software developers support team (SDST) at HMRC has been without fault during the last couple of years WRT RTI.

There are a few quirks that come to light as a result of RTI which will cause fallout (e.g the potential zero-day bomb that is works IDs). However this isn't RTI nor HMRC's fault: it's just a by-product of collecting more information from employers, on a more timely basis. Software developers amongst us will recognise the problem: GIGO.

The next couple of years will be difficult for many businesses as they move to RTI. However I can't help but think that much of the rhetoric is perpetuated by accountants who are crying wolf as they're resisting change to their inefficient processes, also knowing full well that they're sitting on shoddy data. Ironically they're also the first to moan at the inefficiencies of HMRC…

That's just my tuppence worth.

[Higgs Boson]

Small firms given extra time to prepare for RTI

Is this true?

[LisaContractorUmbrella]

Possibly.

However I suspect most of the problems will come as a result of payroll bureaus / accountants not getting (or not listening) to the advice that comes from HMRC, via their payroll software vendor.

The advice and support that's come from the software developers support team (SDST) at HMRC has been without fault during the last couple of years WRT RTI.

There are a few quirks that come to light as a result of RTI which will cause fallout (e.g the potential zero-day bomb that is works IDs). However this isn't RTI nor HMRC's fault: it's just a by-product of collecting more information from employers, on a more timely basis. Software developers amongst us will recognise the problem: GIGO.

The next couple of years will be difficult for many businesses as they move to RTI. However I can't help but think that much of the rhetoric is perpetuated by accountants who are crying wolf as they're resisting change to their inefficient processes, also knowing full well that they're sitting on shoddy data. Ironically they're also the first to moan at the inefficiencies of HMRC…

That's just my tuppence worth.

You could well be right but experience leads me to think that the main problem will be with HMR&C's systems falling over at crucial moments. Remember a couple of years ago when they'd just introduced online filing at year end - system fell over and when you called the helpline you got the message "your call is important to us. current waiting time is 15 hours and 47 minutes"

[inniAccounts]

Small firms given extra time to prepare for RTI

Is this true?

What a wonderfully misleading article - shame on Contractor Accountants.

It's based on this official release from HMRC.

The crux of the relaxation is that if you pay your employees more frequently than once a month (classic is weekly or seasonal workers), you won't have to report to HMRC at the exact moment you make each payment. HOWEVER, you'll still need to report via RTI for each employee at least once per month.

E.g.: If you pay an employee 4 times in a month you can get away with sending one RTI submission per month to HMRC. However after October you'll need to send one submission for each payment, i.e. 4 per month.

Quote from HMRC:

This is not a withdrawal of the requirement to report PAYE in real time. All employers are still required to operate PAYE in real time and we expect most employers to be reporting PAYE in real time from their first payday on or after 6th April. From 6th October all employers will be required to report PAYE in real time each time they pay their employees

So it's a partial relaxation, but won't impact contractors.

[Higgs Boson]

What a wonderfully misleading article - shame on Contractor Accountants.

It's based on this official release from HMRC.

The crux of the relaxation is that if you pay your employees more frequently than once a month (classic is weekly or seasonal workers), you won't have to report to HMRC at the exact moment you make each payment. HOWEVER, you'll still need to report via RTI for each employee at least once per month.

E.g.: If you pay an employee 4 times in a month you can get away with sending one RTI submission per month to HMRC. However after October you'll need to send one submission for each payment, i.e. 4 per month.

Quote from HMRC:

This is not a withdrawal of the requirement to report PAYE in real time. All employers are still required to operate PAYE in real time and we expect most employers to be reporting PAYE in real time from their first payday on or after 6th April. From 6th October all employers will be required to report PAYE in real time each time they pay their employees

So it's a partial relaxation, but won't impact contractors.

Top class advice.

[norbie]

HOWEVER, the problem is that HMRC have inadvertently enrolled a number of companies on to the RTI Pilot without the permission of the company owners or their accountants / agents. Hence why you might find it surprising to receive this letter.

We've been in touch with HMRC and it would appear that any PAYE schemes that were set up after Oct 2012 have been automatically enrolled into the RTI pilot, without notification.

I find myself in this situation - I registered my Ltd co for PAYE a couple of months ago and submitted P14 and P35 last week for the end of the tax year only to find out that this is incorrect and I have been in an RTI pilot without realising.

After speaking to HMRC I now find myself having to submit an FPS for the previous tax year or face a fine if I haven't done it by next week!

The trouble is finding payroll software that will submit an RTI FPS for the PREVIOUS tax year, they are all setup for this year but finding one that can cope with the last year is becoming a problem.

This is hassle that I do not need. I did not ask to be in the pilot, and am very angry that I was not informed about it. I have sent them exactly the right information that they require, just in a slightly different format. You would have thought a human could just tell the computer I have fulfilled my obligations, but no, apparently I must do it the RTI way or be fined.

[Greg@CapitalCity]

After speaking to HMRC I now find myself having to submit an FPS for the previous tax year or face a fine if I haven't done it by next week!

Easily fixed Norbie - inniAccounts mention it in their first post - "If you're not ready for RTI yet you can call HMRC's Employer's Helpline on 08457 143 143 (option 3, option 3) - they can remove you from the pilot which will allow you to submit P14s and a P35 instead."