RTI - what are the rules with regards to penalties?

Under Real Time Information (RTI), employers will send HMRC information about employees' pay when- or before payments are made. This should mean more employees will pay the right amount of tax and National Insurance in the tax year.

Unless you are already operating RTI as part of HM Revenue & Customs’ (HMRC) pilot, the rules can be summarised as follows:

	2012/13	2013/14	2014/15
Missing payment penalties No payment to HMRC is made	Yes	Yes	Yes
Underpayment penalties A payment is made, but it is less than the liability due	No	Yes	Yes
In-year late filing penalties For late in-year submissions	No	No	Yes
Year end late filing penalties For late year end Full Payment Submissions	Yes	Yes	Yes
Inaccuracy penalties - for inaccuracies specifically with a year end period	Yes	Yes	Yes
Inaccuracy penalties - for inaccuracies specifically within an in-year FPS	No	Maybe	To be confirmed

RTI is being introduced in April 2013 and will mark the biggest change to payroll since the 1940s. If you would like any assistance during the transition into RTI reporting or ongoing assistance, please feel free to get in touch with your local TaxAssist Accountant.

Date published 1 Mar 2013

This article is intended to inform rather than advise and is based on legislation and practice at the time. Taxpayer’s circumstances do vary and if you feel that the information provided is beneficial it is important that you contact us before implementation. If you take, or do not take action as a result of reading this article, before receiving our written endorsement, we will accept no responsibility for any financial loss incurred.