Real Time Information reporting with the FPS and EPS

The monthly dates

Full Payment Submission

On or before the employees' usual payday (GOV.UK: reporting to HMRC)

Employer Payment Summary

By the 19th of the following tax month (GOV.UK: the EPS)

Paying HMRC electronically

Cleared by the 22nd of the next tax month (GOV.UK: pay employers' PAYE)

Paying HMRC by cheque

Received by the 19th of the month (GOV.UK: pay employers' PAYE)

Quarterly payers

By the 22nd after the end of the quarter, for example 22 July for 6 April to 5 July (GOV.UK)

The Full Payment Submission

HMRC's reporting guidance says to send the FPS on or before payday, even when the employer pays HMRC quarterly. The date reported is the usual payday, even if staff are paid earlier or later. Everyone paid goes on the FPS, including employees paid less than £96 a week.

The FPS carries the employer's details, each employee's details, their pay and deductions, and their National Insurance information. It is also how a new employee is registered with HMRC: the first FPS that includes them, on or before their first payday, does it (GOV.UK: tell HMRC about a new employee).

An FPS can be sent early for operational reasons, but a corrected FPS is then needed if anything changes, and an FPS for a new tax year cannot be sent before March.

When an FPS can go after payday

• A new starter with no P45 who earns under £96 a week or worked less than a week: within 7 days of paying them (GOV.UK: sending an FPS after payday).
• Payday on a non-banking day: on the next banking day, with the usual payment date and late reporting reason code G (GOV.UK).
• Pay that depends on the day's work: within 7 days of paying the employee (GOV.UK).
• Certain expenses or benefits liable to National Insurance, and non-cash payments: within 14 days of the end of the tax month (GOV.UK).
• Waiting for an employer PAYE reference: as soon as possible after it arrives, using code G (GOV.UK).

The Employer Payment Summary

HMRC's EPS guidance lists what the EPS is for: reclaiming statutory maternity, paternity, adoption, neonatal care, parental bereavement and shared parental pay; claiming the employment allowance; reclaiming Construction Industry Scheme deductions suffered by a limited company; and paying the Apprenticeship Levy where the employer, with connected employers, has an annual pay bill of more than £3 million.

Where nobody was paid in a tax month, no FPS is sent. An EPS goes by the 19th after that tax month. If the employer knows in advance that it will pay nobody for between one month and 12 months, the dates can be entered in the period of inactivity fields on the EPS.

Paying HMRC and the references

Each scheme has two references: the employer PAYE reference, used on submissions, and the 13-character accounts office reference, used to pay. For an early or late payment, HMRC's payment guidance says to add 4 digits: the last 2 digits of the tax year and the number of the tax month or quarter. For example, 2702 is month 2 of the tax year ending 2027, 6 May to 5 June 2026.

An employer can pay quarterly if it expects its total payments to average less than £1,500 a month over the tax year (CWG2 2026 to 2027, section 5.15.4). The payment covers PAYE, National Insurance, student loan deductions and, for contractors, Construction Industry Scheme deductions.

Late filing penalties

HMRC's penalty guidance says no penalty is charged for the first failure in a tax year, or where the FPS is late but every payment on it is within 3 days of payday. A penalty paid within 30 days of the notice carries no interest.

Late payment is a separate penalty. HMRC's late payment guidance charges 1% of the late amount for 1 to 3 defaults in a tax year, 2% for 4 to 6, 3% for 7 to 9 and 4% for 10 or more. The first late payment in the year does not count as a default. An amount still unpaid after 6 months attracts a further 5%, and another 5% after 12 months, with daily interest throughout.

Questions