HMRC Seeks 1,300 Volunteer Employers

HM Revenue & Customs is seeking an additional 1,300 employers to join its Real Time Information (RTI) pilot, designed to improve the operation of PAYE, in July 2012.

HMRC already has 300 volunteer employers lined up for the pilot, starting in April 2012, but says it wants more employers to come onboard in July. Depending on the outcome of the initial pilot, HMRC intends to recruit an extra 250,000 volunteer employers to join RTI from November 2012.

Stephen Banyard, HMRC acting director general for personal tax, said: ‘Expanding the pilot from the original 300 employers will help ensure the smooth implementation of RTI. It is an ambitious but achievable target as we know that RTI is on track. We have considered all the technical and practical issues and are confident that we have the capacity to increase the pilot by over 300% in July next year.’

Any software developers interested in participating in the pilot should contact HMRC’s Software Developers Support Team (SDST) to register interest by 30 November. SDST will provide a template for the information required.

Completed templates for participation in the pilot in July will need to be returned to SDST by 7 December 2011 and include details of both products and all employers nominated to take part.

Details of all employers nominated to join the pilot from November 2012 to March 2013 must be provided by 30 December. There is more information about RTI on HMRC’s website at http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/rti/index.htm.