PAYE RTI Submissions: A Practical Guide to the FPS, EPS, Deadlines and Penalties

Under PAYE Real Time Information (RTI), employers send HMRC a Full Payment Submission (FPS) on or before every payday. To claim a reduction, they send an Employer Payment Summary (EPS) by the 19th of the next tax month. They pay HMRC by the 22nd (19th by post). Late FPSs cost £100 to £400 a month, depending on employee numbers.

RTI is the backbone of UK payroll. Each submission tells HMRC what you paid, what you deducted and what you owe. Getting the timing right avoids penalties, and it also keeps your employees’ tax records accurate.

What is an RTI submission?

An RTI submission is the report your payroll software sends to HMRC each time you run payroll. There are two main types:

• Full Payment Submission (FPS): details of everyone you paid, what you paid them and what you deducted.
• Employer Payment Summary (EPS): an employer-level return. You use it to claim reductions, or to tell HMRC you paid no one in a tax month.

Tax months run from the 6th of one month to the 5th of the next. Most RTI deadlines refer to tax months, not calendar months.

When must you send an FPS?

GOV.UK’s guidance on reporting to HMRC says: “Send the FPS on or before your employees’ payday, even if you pay HMRC quarterly instead of monthly.” Use your usual payday, even if you actually pay early or late.

An FPS includes:

• your employer details
• employee details, for the people you’ve paid in that period
• pay and deductions, including income tax, student loans and pension contributions
• National Insurance information, including each employee’s category letter

Include everyone you pay, even people earning less than £96 a week.

When can an FPS be sent after payday?

There are limited exceptions, listed in sending an FPS after payday. Examples:

• Payday falls on a non-banking day: report on the next banking day.
• Pay can’t be calculated in advance (for example, some hourly work): report within 7 days of paying.
• A new employee gives you no P45 and earns under £96 a week, or has worked for you for less than a week: report within 7 days of paying.
• Ad hoc payments outside your normal payroll: include them in your next regular or an additional FPS.

Each late report needs a late-reporting reason on the FPS. Leave it off, or use one HMRC doesn’t accept, and you may get a penalty warning or a penalty.

When do you need an EPS?

You don’t send an EPS every month by default. GOV.UK’s EPS guidance says to send one when you:

• reclaim statutory maternity, paternity, adoption, neonatal care, bereavement or shared parental pay
• claim the Employment Allowance (once per tax year)
• are a limited company reclaiming Construction Industry Scheme deductions
• pay the Apprenticeship Levy because your pay bill is over £3 million a year
• paid no employees in a tax month (send an EPS instead of an FPS)

The deadline is the 19th of the following tax month. That gives HMRC time to apply the reductions before your payment is due. If you paid no one and don’t send an EPS, HMRC may estimate what you owe and charge a penalty.

The Employment Allowance can take up to £10,500 off your employer National Insurance bill in 2026/27. Our employer National Insurance guide explains who qualifies.

When do you pay HMRC?

You pay the tax and National Insurance shown on your FPSs for the previous tax month, minus any reductions claimed on an EPS sent by the 19th. GOV.UK’s paying HMRC page sets the deadlines.

Payment method	Deadline (monthly payers)
Electronic payment	22nd of the next tax month
Cheque by post	Must reach HMRC by the 19th

If you usually pay less than £1,500 a month, you may be able to pay quarterly. Payment is then due by the 22nd after each quarter ends, for example 22 July for the quarter 6 April to 5 July. You still send an FPS every payday.

A month in practice

For a company that pays staff on the 25th:

Date	Action
25 October (payday)	FPS sent on or before this date
5 November	Tax month ends
By 19 November	EPS sent, if claiming statutory pay or other reductions
By 22 November	Payment for the tax month 6 October to 5 November reaches HMRC

What are the penalties for late RTI submissions and payments?

Late filing penalties

If an FPS is late, HMRC can charge a monthly late filing penalty based on how many employees you have:

Number of employees	Monthly penalty
1 to 9	£100
10 to 49	£200
50 to 249	£300
250 or more	£400

There is no penalty for the first time you’re late in a tax year. That concession doesn’t apply to annual schemes. New employers also aren’t penalised if their first FPS arrives within 30 days of first paying an employee. If you run more than one PAYE scheme, each one can be charged.

Late payment penalties

GOV.UK’s late payment guidance says the first late payment in a tax year doesn’t count as a default. After that, the penalty is a percentage of the amount paid late:

Defaults in the tax year	Penalty on the late amount
1 to 3	1%
4 to 6	2%
7 to 9	3%
10 or more	4%

If a payment is still unpaid after 6 months, HMRC adds a further 5% of the unpaid amount, and another 5% after 12 months. This applies even if it’s the only late payment in the year. Interest also builds up daily on unpaid amounts.

For example, if your second late payment of the year is £8,000, that’s your first default, so the penalty is 1% = £80, plus interest.

How do you correct a mistake on an RTI submission?

GOV.UK’s guide to correcting an FPS or EPS covers the main cases:

• FPS error in the current tax year: update the year-to-date figures in your next regular FPS. Don’t resend the same amounts as a new payment, or you’ll create a duplicate record.
• FPS error in a previous tax year: send another FPS with the correct year-to-date figures for that year.
• EPS error: send an EPS with the correct year-to-date figures for the tax year the mistake relates to.

If your PAYE bill still looks wrong by the 12th of the next tax month, GOV.UK suggests contacting HMRC.

What happens at the end of the tax year?

The tax year ends on 5 April. The final payroll report is your last FPS, sent on or before the last payday of the year, with “Yes” in the “Final submission for year” field. If you forgot to mark it, or paid no one in the final period, send an EPS instead.

After that:

• By 31 May: give a P60 to every employee still with you on 5 April.
• By 6 July: report expenses and benefits that weren’t payrolled, and the Class 1A National Insurance on them. Our P11D guide covers this, including the move to mandatory payrolling of some benefits from April 2027.

Corrections found after year end can be made by sending an FPS with the correct year-to-date figures.

Keeping RTI on time, every time

RTI rewards routine: the FPS on payday, an EPS when needed and payment by the 22nd. Most problems come from late changes, missed EPS claims or unmarked year-end submissions. If you’re weighing up outside help, our guide to choosing a payroll provider covers what to ask. Our payroll services team handles every RTI submission and payment reminder for you.