RTI penalties

HMRC sends out first in-year RTI penalties to small PAYE employers

HMRC has started to issue the first in-year penalties for small employers who missed the PAYE deadlines for reporting real time information salary and payroll data although it claims to be taking a more lenient approach to penalties than in the past report harris & Co chartered accountants Northampton

Rather than issue late filing penalties automatically when a deadline is missed, HMRC says it will take a more proportionate approach and concentrate on the more serious defaults on a risk-assessed basis.

The change in approach is designed to free up more time and resources for HMRC to investigate major tax avoidance and evasion cases, rather than penalising taxpayers who may have missed a deadline inadvertently.

HMRC will continue to issue risk-based penalties for the tax year 2015-2016 for submissions that were late from:

6 March 2015 for employers with fewer than 50 employees; and

6 January 2015 for employers with 50 or more employees.

RTI fines were first introduced in October 2014 for the largest businesses, and subsequently for employers with 50 or more staff, for sending real time PAYE information late.

Any employer who receives a late filing penalty notice for tax year 2014 to 2015 quarter 4, but who filed within three days of the reporting deadline, may appeal electronically using the Penalties and Appeals System (PAS) on HMRC Online. You should select code A as the reason for disputing a penalty.

Follow Us