Advisers to be Bypassed in RTI Penalty Notifications

It is appeared that the HMRC will bypass the payroll consultants and the accounting professionals if their clients are imposed a fine on filing the returns.

In April 2013, the Pay As You Earn (PAYE) scheme was introduced and since then it has effectively been operated by the employers and additionally PAYE seems to be reported in time and/or before the date of making the payment. Instead of reporting at the financial year end, the changes in the conditions like job promotions or departures and the increase in wages will be disclosed as and when they are occurred.

On quarterly basis, HMRC will penalize the employers for the mistakes and delays in filing. From start of February 2015, the employers, who have been imposed such fines, will receive quarterly notices to pay their fine.

HMRC indicated that these notices might include a number of penalties. On the other hand, HMRC mentioned in the “employer bulletin” that a duplicate copy of the notice will not be sent to the agents. But there will be clear note for the employers to immediately approach their agents and let them know about the notice.

All the penalty notices will contain unique identification number in order to assist the employers in identifying the penalty and in case of the employer disagreeing and wishing to make an appeal, the notice will explain the necessary steps to take.

A standard automatic message will be sent to the employers when they are supposed to be in position of penalty however this will not mean a penalty notice, indicated by HMRC.

On the other hand, several agents are worried about possibly remaining uninformed from their clients’ positions.

HMRC explained this aspect that it is changing the method to communicate with the taxpayers and also that it is dedicated to digitally carryout its business. We should critically consider the postage and printing costs for the paper-based interactions. HMRC also considers to prohibit the costs of sending a copy of the notice to the agents.