HMRC extends its late payment penalty policy until April 2017

HMRC has extended its PAYE late payment penalty scheme until April 2017, after a review found it contributed to a significant reduction in the amount of late returns over the last year.

It also confirmed that employers will not incur automatic penalties for three-day delays in filing their PAYE information. Rather, penalties will be reviewed on a risk-assessed basis, as opposed to being issued automatically.

A Change in Focus

The tax office has now shifted its focus towards penalising companies who repeatedly or deliberately miss deadlines, rather than those who make non-deliberate mistakes.

An official statement said: “The three-day easement is not an extension of the statutory filing date, which remains unchanged,” and that employers “are still required to file on or before each payment date unless the circumstances set out in the ‘sending an FPS after payday guidance’ are met.”

It will continue to review its approach to penalties beyond April 2017 as it conducts a wider review.

Ensure your payroll department is operating properly

It’s down to public and private sector companies to ensure their payroll departments are operating properly, and are providing HMRC with the right information when it comes to PAYE deductions and any other compulsory payroll information.

The best way to ensure that everything remains in order is to ensure you hire payroll professionals with the skills and knowledge to make a difference to the department, and this is where Portfolio can help.

You can register a vacancy with us or get in contact to see how our recruitment consultants can help you find the very best payroll candidates out there.

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