Posted by James Pearson on 22 Sep 2014
Phasing of HMRC Penalties
HMRC are staggering the start of new automatic in-year late payment and filing penalties.
Some good news for employers with up to 49 employees. Having listened to customer feedback HMRC is staggering the start of the new automatic in-year late payment and filing penalties. This will give HMRC and employers more time to adapt to reporting in real time. Small employers will not be charged late filing penalties under PAYE Real Time Information (RTI) reporting until 5 March 2015. This change follows a recent relaxation for micro employers (1 to 9 employees) which delays penalties for them until 5 April 2016.
For large employers (50 or more employees) the new RTI late filing penalty system will apply from 6 October 2014.
Where do HMRC Penalties Apply?
HMRC has published a summary of when penalties apply for small and large employers. In the summary, micro employers are included as small employers so in this guidance small means 1 to 49 employees.
In summary RTI penalties apply from:
- 6 October 2014 for employers with 50 + employees.
- 6 March 2015 for employers with 10 to 49 employees.
- 6 April 2016 for employers with 1 to 9 employees.
Tax Late Payment & Interest Charges
New automated in-year late payment penalties will start from April 2015. But in the meantime HMRC will continue to charge late payment penalties – on a risk-assessed basis – on payments due from employers for the tax year 2014-15 onwards. HMRC charge daily interest on all unpaid amounts of PAYE/NIC from the due and payable date to the date of payment, so to avoid interest charges full payment of any amounts payable should be made by the due date. The charge will be raised when payment in full has been received & HMRC will impose the charge after the end of the tax year once all the end-of-year returns have been received.
HMRC have issued a helpsheet.
Contact Tax Innovations
If you would like any advice regarding the above article or would simply like to discuss other ways in which we could help you or your business, please contact us on 01962 856 990 or customerservice@taxinnovations.com.
See also…
HMRC: Staggered Start to the Introduction of Real Time Information Penalties
Penalties for Late Tax Returns
Disproportionate HRMC Penalties
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