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HMRC have flagged several changes that affect employer annual returns and starter and leaver PAYE forms with effect from this month:
- Employers with fewer than 50 employees must send forms P45, P46 and similar pension information online to HMRC.
- Employers who send in their employer annual return to HMRC after the 19 May filing deadline will receive a late-filing penalty, because extra-statutory concession B46, giving employers extra time before the Revenue charged a penalty, has been withdrawn.
- From this year, employers will be liable to a penalty if they file their annual return on paper. Last year, no penalty was charged for employers with five or fewer employees. These transitional arrangements have now ended.
To avoid unnecessary administration work for employers and HMRC, paper starter and leaver forms should not be sent to HMRC where they have already filed online.
The Revenue will be issuing PAYE penalties this spring in two key areas for the first time. Penalty notices will be sent out this month to employers with 50 or more employees who have not filed starter and leaver forms online to the department. The first penalties will apply for the three month period to 5 April 2011, with further penalties being issued on a quarterly basis.
In addition, from May, the taxman will start to send out penalties for late payment of PAYE.
To help employers get their return right first time, HMRC have published a list of common errors to avoid.
