PAYE55001 - Employer returns: RTI submissions: introduction

Full Payment Submission (FPS)
Employment Payment Summary (EPS)
Earlier Year Update (EYU)
NINO Verification Request (NVR) 

Full Payment Submission (FPS)

Employers will submit a Full Payment Submission (FPS) each time they pay an employee, whether this is weekly, monthly or any normal payroll date. The employer must provide the following mandatory information in each FPS:

  • Employer information (HMRC office number, PAYE reference, Accounts Office reference and the income tax year to which the submission relates)
  • Scheme information - in particular when an employer has ceased
  • Employee information (title, surname or family name, forename, second forename, date of birth, gender, full address including postcode)

Note: The entry of the employee’s full address is only mandatory for new starters and where the NINO is unknown. Where the NINO is unknown, the employer must continue to provide the employee’s address on every subsequent FPS until able to provide the NINO.

  • Payroll ID - current payroll ID (including old payroll ID if any changes made)
  • Employment starter information - for new employees including start dates
  • Employment leaver information - date the employment ended including payment after leaving.

There will be other information contained within the FPS including full details relating to NIC and deductions made by the employer such as NICs, tax, student and/or postgraduate loan repayments and Statutory Payments made, for example Statutory Sick Pay and Statutory Maternity Pay.

Employment Payment Summary (EPS)

Employers will use the Employer Payment Summary (EPS) to report:

  • Statutory Payments recovered (Statutory Sick Pay will no longer be viewable for tax years 2014 to 2015 onwards)
  • NIC Compensation on Statutory Payments
  • CIS Deductions suffered
  • Deductions an employer is entitled to make under the Regional Employer NICs Holiday for New Businesses (This will no longer be viewable for tax years 2014 to 2015 onwards)
  • Details of any advance received from HMRC.

For tax years 2014 to 2015 the following will also be viewable:

  • Account Name
  • Account Number
  • Branch Sort Code
  • Building Society Reference (only visible where there is an entry on the submission)

This submission will allow HMRC to offset these against any payments due.

The submission will also include

  • Employer information (HMRC office number, PAYE reference, Accounts Office reference and the income tax year to which the submission relates)
  • Scheme information (where an employer has ceased or a period of inactivity).

Note: If no payments are made within a pay period and no FPS is submitted, the employer will submit an EPS to show that no return or payment is due for that pay period.

Final submission for the tax year

An employer must complete and submit an FPS whenever they make a payment to an employee. When an employer submits a final RTI submission for the tax year on or before 5 April, whether it is an FPS or EPS, they must indicate that it is their ‘Final Submission’ for the tax year.

From 2014 to 2015 completing the Questions and Declaration statement is no longer mandatory.

Earlier Year Update (EYU)

After the 19 April, following the end of the tax year, an employer cannot submit an FPS for the closed year. Where an employer needs to submit FPS details for a previous year or amend year to date FPS figures for a previous year they can only do this by submitting an EYU. The EYU must only show the difference between the year to date figure on the final FPS and what the figure should be.

From April 2021 the Earlier Year Update (EYU) will no longer be a valid submission type. Employers should correct their payroll data for the 2020 to 2021 and future tax years by sending a further year to date Full Payment Submission (FPS).

If an EYU/FPS is received for an employer record that does not already have a joining date EBS will set a joining date derived as 5 April within the tax year to which the EYU/FPS refers.

The employer must provide the following mandatory information in each EYU/FPS:

  • Employer information (HMRC office number, PAYE reference, Accounts Office reference and the income tax year to which the submission relates)
  • Employee information (title, surname or family name, forename, second forename, date of birth, gender, full address including postcode)

Note: The entry of the employee’s full address is only mandatory for a new starter that has not appeared on a previous FPS or where the NINO is unknown. Where the NINO is unknown, the employer must continue to provide the employee’s address on every subsequent EYU/FPS until they are able to provide the NINO.

  • Payroll ID - current payroll ID

Note: If the employee has two or more employments under the same PAYE scheme the employer must use a different Payroll ID for each employment under that scheme.

  • Employment starter information - for new employees including start dates
  • Employment leaver information - date the employment ended including payment after leaving.

There will be other information contained within the EYU/FPS including details relating to NIC and deductions made by the employer such as NICs, tax, student and/or postgraduate loan repayments and Statutory Payments made, for example Statutory Maternity Pay. For tax years 2013 to 2014 onwards the EYU/FPS will also contain details of the total number of non-individual charges and a count of the non-individual charges.

NINO Verification Request (NVR)

From April 2012, an employer who is within RTI will have the ability for new employees only to submit a NINO Verification Request (NVR) to allow them to either verify a NINO, or obtain a NINO for the employee details supplied on the NVR.

This submission will include:

  • Surname of family name
  • Forename
  • Initials
  • Second forename
  • Date of birth
  • Current gender
  • Address