With effect from 6 April 2013, most employers with less than 5,000 employees will join Real Time Information (RTI), alongside those employers already taking part in pilot schemes. They must report details of payments and various other prescribed information to HMRC, on or before the time a payment is made during any week or month.
Mark Groom, tax partner at Deloitte, said: "These rules will now be relaxed for small businesses. In a pre-Budget announcement made yesterday, HMRC confirmed that employers with fewer than 50 employees would not have to file returns at the time of making payments. They will instead be given until the date of their normal payroll run - but no later than the end of the tax month (5th) – to submit a single return for all payments in the month concerned."
This relaxation will initially apply for six months until October 2013.
Groom continued: "Any step to help small business is welcome and this follows other sensible relaxations for bigger businesses with more complex off cycle payments and reward structures including in relation to internationally mobile employees and share schemes. However, we think a single end of week/month return would suffice for all employers and we suggest it should continue after October."
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