New electronic messages to help employers keep up to date with their PAYE

From 21 October, HMRC will introduce a series of new electronic messages to help employers keep their PAYE up to date, reports accountancy services Harris & Co.

The messages will be sent to employers depending on how they make real time submissions to HMRC. For example, if they make their real time submissions by Electronic Data Interchange (EDI), the message will be sent using the same EDI channel, and if they make their real time submissions by internet using commercial software, they may receive messages within their software if it is able to receive them or they will have to log into PAYE Online Services and go to the generic notifications to receive the messages from there.

The first of these messages will alert employers that they appear to have submitted a late Full Payment Submission (FPS). Employers who receive this message must ensure that they get their business ready to submit their PAYE returns on time from 6 April 2014 in order to avoid potential in-year penalties in 2014-15.

There are no in-year penalties for late filing and/or payment for the current tax year, so employers who have filed on time for 2013-14 need take no further action.