What is RTI? FPS and EPS explained
If you run a UK payroll, you report to HMRC every time you pay someone — not once a year. That system is called Real Time Information (RTI), and it runs on two submissions: the FPS and the EPS. Here's what they are and when each is due.
What is RTI?
Real Time Information has been the way UK employers report payroll since 2013. Instead of an annual return, you tell HMRC about pay and deductions as they happen, so HMRC's records (and your employees' tax codes) stay up to date through the year.
The FPS — your every-payday report
The Full Payment Submission (FPS) is the main one. It must be sent to HMRC on or before the day you pay your employees, and it reports each person's pay, Income Tax, National Insurance, student loan and any other deductions for that pay run.
The deadline that catches people out: "on or before payday." Send the FPS late and HMRC can charge a late-filing penalty. If you pay weekly and monthly staff, each pay run needs its own on-time FPS.
The EPS — the monthly adjustments report
The Employer Payment Summary (EPS) covers things the FPS doesn't. You send it monthly when you need to:
- reclaim statutory payments (e.g. maternity, paternity or sick pay),
- claim the Employment Allowance,
- tell HMRC you paid no employees in a tax month (a "nil" EPS), or
- recover Construction Industry Scheme (CIS) deductions.
The EPS is generally due by the 19th of the following tax month, and it's how HMRC works out what you actually owe after any reductions.
What you pay, and when
After your FPS and any EPS, HMRC knows your PAYE bill for the month. You then pay it by the 22nd (electronic) of the following month — or quarterly if your average monthly PAYE is under £1,500.
Where it goes wrong
Missed or late FPS submissions, forgetting the nil EPS in a quiet month, and getting starters/leavers reported incorrectly are the common slips — and they all carry penalties or wrong tax codes. This is exactly the kind of routine-but-unforgiving work a payroll service takes off your plate.