If a Full Payment Submission (FPS) is submitted late to HMRC, there are penalties. This article looks at what the deadlines are and what the penalties can be.

Firstly, what is an FPS?

A Full Payment Submission is an electronic submission made to HMRC. The FPS contains employer & employee information. It also contains payment information about the amount of pay and deductions made to each employee.

What happens if an FPS is submitted late?

If an FPS is submitted late to HMRC they have it in their power to issue a penalty notice. HMRC may also raise a specified charge based on an estimate of how much they think an employer should pay. HMRC will base the charge on an employer?s previous PAYE filing.

When would an employer be charged a late payment penalty?

HMRC issue penalty notices on a quarterly basis. Employers may receive a penalty if:

• The Full Payment Submission (FPS) was submitted late
• The employer did not send the expected number of FPSs
• The employer did not send an Employment Payment Summary (EPS) when they did not pay any employees in a pay period

Are there Occasions when HMRC do not charge a penalty?

The answer is yes, under the following circumstances:

• The employer’s FPS is late but all reported payments on the FPS are within 3 days of the employees? payday. However, employers who persistently file after the payment date but within 3 days may be considered for a penalty.
• The employer is a new employer and they send their first FPS within 30 days of paying an employee.
• It’s an employer’s first failure in the tax year to send a report on time.

What are the penalties for filing an fps late?

Penalties vary depending on the number of employees that work for the employer. The Monthly penalties are:

• 1 to 9 employees = £100
• 10 to 49 employees = £200
• 50 to 249 employees = £300
• 250 or more employees = £400

An additional penalty of 5% may be charged if employers are more than 3 months late with their FPS.

Can an employer make an appeal against a penalty notice?

Yes, if they think the amount is incorrect, the penalty is not due or if the employer thinks they have a reasonable excuse for filing the FPS late.

Talk to us for Help with all things Payroll

There are always a lot of things to remember and get right when it comes to payroll. As can be seen with the late filing of FPSs, there are almost always penalties from HMRC for not doing things right.

As outsourced payroll specialists, we can take all this work and worry away from you, so that you can concentrate on running your business

Contact us or call us on 0121 422 0550 for an initial chat about how we can help you.