RTI – Real Time Information

Posted on By dc_admin

Real Time Information (RTI) has been introduced to improve the PAYE system by assisting HMRC in gathering critical data on a more frequent basis.  It begins on your first pay date after 6th April 2013, so it is important to act very soon to ensure you can meet the requirements.

This change applies to your business if you have any employees, including those paid below the tax/NIC threshold, those paid just once a year, casual and temporary workers (unless they are paid by an agency). The main changes being implemented are:

  1. Reporting to HMRC: currently your payroll data is reported to HMRC annually on the  Employer’s End of Year Return (P35).  The 2012/13 tax year is the last time this will be done.  From 6th April 2013, employers will report their payroll data to HMRC every time they pay employees,
  2. Employees paid below the tax/NIC threshold must now be added to your PAYE scheme,
  3. It will no longer be necessary to file P46 and P45 starter and leaver forms: however, new starter information is still needed, and the employee must still be provided with a P45 when he/she leaves.

One of the first things you need to do to, before you even begin to consider the impact of RTI on your business, is talk to your existing software provider. It is important that you find out whether or not your software is currently RTI compliant or will be compliant before April 2013. This is when most employers will start operating the new PAYE process.

Collins Accountancy Ltd uses fully compliant software and provides a full payroll service. If you prefer to process payroll in-house please ask for software recommendations, some options are free.

RTI and payroll

The biggest exercise you may need to do is the data cleansing process and what HMRC refers to as ‘payroll alignment‘.

To minimise rejection due to a mismatch with HMRC records, it is important that the payroll records are reviewed for any missing and incorrect compulsory data. Where this data is not available, it must be obtained from the employee. The next step would be to transfer the amendments onto your computer system using your payroll software.

Using Collins Accountancy Ltd as your RTI provider

The introduction of RTI needs to be properly managed.  It is important to know that:

  • once the return has been filed there can be no more changes to the pay run,
  • All of the data needed for new starters must be obtained on a timely basis or the new starter may not get paid (in practice this may put you in a difficult position as you may have a legal and contractual duty to pay your employees).

Get help and advice with RTI

For information on Real Time Information visit the HMRC website and select the link which states ‘I confirm that I want to view guidance on operating PAYE in real time’. HMRC publications, such as the Employer Bulletin are usually worth reading too.

If we can help with any of the above please contact us.