CH62840 - Penalties for failure to file on time: types of penalties to file on time: PAYE Real Time Information returns: fixed penalty
An employer is liable to a penalty if during a tax month they fail to file one or more RTI returns by the filing date. The filing date for an RTI return is the date the payment was made. Paragraph 6C(6) provides that an employer will only be liable to one penalty for each tax month for each PAYE scheme.
The amount of penalty depends on the number of employees in the PAYE scheme.
| Number of employees | Amount of penalty |
|---|---|
| From 1 to 9 | £100 |
| From 10 to 49 | £200 |
| From 50 to 249 | £300 |
| 250 or more | £400 |
Un-penalised first default
For each tax year an employer will not be charged a penalty for the first tax month during which they fail to file one or more returns on time. However, this exemption does not apply to employers who operate an annual PAYE scheme and are only required to file one return per year (paragraph 6C(4)).
An employer operates an annual PAYE scheme if, for that year
- all employees are paid annually,
- all employees are paid on the same date, and
- the employer is only required under regulation 69 of the PAYE regulations (due date and receipts for payment of tax) to pay HMRC annually.
New employers
New employers will not be charged a penalty for failing to file a return on or before the filing date during the initial period. The initial period is 30 days beginning with the date they were required to make their first RTI return (paragraph 6C(3)), see CH62860.
If the employer has elected under Regulation 98 of the PAYE regulations to be treated as a different employer in relation to different groups of employees, then for each PAYE scheme the employer is treated as a different employer when deciding
- the number of employees, which in turn determines the penalty amount,
- the first tax month during which a failure occurs in a tax year,
- whether the employer operates an annual PAYE scheme, and
- whether the employer is a new employer.