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Next steps — further questions, feedback, legislation and guidance (part 5)

Published 7 November 2024

What to do if you have made a mistake

It is anticipated employers will use these guidelines to determine if they are connected to other entities. This will help them calculate how much Apprenticeship Levy they should report and if they can claim the Employment Allowance.

Employers should correct any errors identified following the use of these guidelines. This includes correcting errors in the current and past years.

Where customers fail to meet their obligations, they may be subject to penalties, interest or a combination of both.

If you think you may have failed to meet your obligations, read the HMRC compliance factsheets on penalties to find out about:

• penalties HMRC could use
• when these penalties may apply

Interest will be charged from the date the original payment was due until the date it is actually paid.

Apprenticeship Levy errors

You need to make an amendment to your Real Time Information (RTI) records if you have not correctly reported the Apprenticeship Levy.

To correct a mistake in the current tax year, send an Employment Payment Summary (EPS) with the correct year-to-date figures. You should do this in the next pay period.

For previous tax years, send an EPS with the correct year-to-date figures for the tax year where you made the mistake. You should do this as a Month 12 amendment.

You can use your own payroll software to do this or use HMRC’s Basic PAYE Tool to make the appropriate EPS amendments.

If you submit an amended EPS, it will overwrite the last amounts that were submitted. This new submission will not be added to the original amount. Therefore, make sure the amended EPS includes the full amount of Apprenticeship Levy, as well as any other cumulative amounts. This includes Employment Allowance, Statutory Sick Pay and Statutory Maternity Pay.

The ‘further questions’ section has details on how to contact HMRC if you require further assistance.

Employment Allowance errors

If you identify any ineligible Employment Allowance claims, then you will need to amend your Real Time Information (RTI) records.

To correct a mistake in the current tax year, send an Employment Payment Summary (EPS) with the correct year-to-date figures. You should do this in the next pay period.

For previous tax years, send an EPS for each year with the correct year-to-date figures for the tax year where you made the mistake. You should do this as a Month 12 amendment.

If you submit an amended EPS, it will overwrite the last amounts that were submitted. This new submission will not be added to the original amount. Therefore, make sure the amended EPS includes the full amount of any Employment Allowance claim, as well as any other cumulative amounts. This includes Apprenticeship Levy, Statutory Sick Pay, and Statutory Maternity Pay. You can use your own payroll software to do this or use HMRC’s Basic PAYE Tool to make the appropriate EPS amendments.

The ‘further questions’ section has details on how to contact HMRC if you require further assistance.

Making a payment

Once you have made all EPS amendments, you should check your PAYE account to check if you have anything else to pay. If your account is in credit, we will use any overpayments to clear any amounts due following the EPS amendments.

If any tax is due to be paid, you should use the payment reference 123PA123456782212 for payments relating to March 2022. There is further help on reference numbers for early and late payments. This will ensure that any payment is allocated correctly.

You need to use a 17-digit reference when making payment. This is your 13-digit Accounts Office reference (without any spaces) followed by 4 digits. These 4 digits relates to the tax year, then the tax month the payment should be allocated to. For example, a company with Accounts Office reference 123PA12345678 would need to use payment reference 123PA123456782212 for payments relating to March 2022.

The ‘further questions’ section has details on how to contact HMRC if you require further assistance.

Further questions

If you have any questions or comments please email ccgguidelinesforcompliance@hmrc.gov.uk.

Please include the Guidelines for Compliance reference number (GfC10) in the subject line. If you have a Customer Compliance Manager (CCM) then copy them into the email.

Sending information by email carries certain risks. HMRC will assume that by sending information by email you understand and accept these risks.

Give feedback on these guidelines 

We have created a survey to help measure your experience of this Guidelines for Compliance product. 

We will use the feedback from this survey to: 

• establish any areas which customers still have trouble understanding
• find out where customers might make changes, after reading the guidelines
• improve future Guidelines for Compliance products

You can only use this survey to give anonymous feedback about these guidelines. Do not provide any personal data that might identify you, your clients, or any specific case or enquiry with HMRC. The survey is not a route to contact HMRC for specific enquires. The replies will not be seen by anyone responsible for dealing with your tax affairs. 

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Legislation and guidance

The most relevant legislation is:

Part 6 Finance Act 2016

The Income Tax (Pay As You Earn) (Amendment) Regulations 2017

Sections 1-8 National Insurance Contributions Act 2014

Schedule 1 National Insurance Contributions Act 2014

Section 5 Small Charitable Donations Act 2012

The main sources of available guidance include:

Apprenticeship Levy Manual

National Insurance Manual

Connected Companies Overview (GOV.UK)

Connected Charities (GOV.UK)