Data from your Real Time Information (RTI) for PAYE payrolls is shared with the Department of Work and Pensions (DWP).
Some of your payroll information is now used by the DWP to determine eligibility and payment amounts for your employees who are currently in receipt of Universal Credit.
HMRC have noted that some employers who run their payrolls and file their FPS submission on the same day that their employees have been paid are at risk of misreporting the payment date this year when salaries are typically run in advance of the festive holidays.
Please ensure that when you complete your weekly and monthly payrolls, that the ‘Payment Date’ field is correctly entered into your payroll software as the employee’s normal payment date.
Incorrectly stating the Payment Date may not have been noticed as an issue in previous years as the real-time feed from HMRC to the DWP has been gradually introduced over this year.
HMRC have provided us with a draft of their upcoming guidance to employers;
“We know that some employers pay their employees earlier than usual during the festive period, this may be due to the business closing for Christmas and New Year.
If you do pay early, please report the normal payment date on your Full Payment Submission (FPS).
For example: if you pay on 21 December but your normal payment date is 31 December, please report the payment date as 31 December. In this example the FPS would need to be sent on or before the 31 December.
Doing this will protect your employees’ eligibility for Universal Credit, because an early payment could affect further entitlements.
This guidance applies only for the 2018 festive period.”
We wish all of our customers a very merry Christmas and a restful and peaceful holidays!
