Being an employer, you are required to submit an employer payment summary (EPS) to report values to HMRC that you were unable to include in your full payment summary (FPS). It is used to:
- Reclaim statutory maternity, paternity, adaptation, and parental payments.
- Recover the construction industry scheme (CIS) deductions.
- Claim for Employment Allowance (once a tax year).
- Claim National Insurance contributions holiday for previous tax years.
- Pay an Apprenticeship Levy ( If you or your employers have an annual pay bill of over £3 million).
If none of them occurs, you don’t need to submit an EPS. On the other hand, if there is a need for submission, you must send it monthly matter you pay weekly, fortnight or monthly basis.
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When to Send EPS?
You need to send an EPS before the 19th of every month to HMRC to get any reduction (like statutory pay) on what you’ll owe from your FPS. Note that the starting date of the tax month is the 6th of every month.
You can opt to send your EPS manually or automatically.
How to Send an EPS Automatically?
You can automatically send your EPS by taking these simple steps:
- First, you need to go for Payroll settings, then to HMRC settings.
- Afterwards, go down to the EPS Settings section and choose a date from the ‘Submit employer payment summary (EPS) monthly. This date can be between the 5th and 19th of the month.
- Click Save.
By following the above steps, you will submit your EPS automatically to HMRC on the mentioned date.
How to Send Your EPS Manually?
If you want to send your EPS manually, you can do it by following these steps:
- Go to the Reports tab and select the Employer Payment Summary report (EPS).
- Choose the tax year for EPS submission.
- Click on the Run Report.
- You can click on the Submit EPS button to see the EPS report. Then you need to confirm submission after reviewing the report. Once you click this button, the EPS will be submitted to HMRC for the specified period. You can change the monthly drop down-field and can see the recovered amounts for the statutory payments.
- You can also export or download the report in Excel, or PDF format.
Once you submit it, you can see the successful status on the summary screen.
How to Correct a Current Month EPS?
Correcting the current month’s EPS is a straightforward process. You can resend your EPS to HMRC by going through the same process and correcting the value before sending it again. In addition, you can correct the check as part of the submission process.
You can visit the government website to correct your EPS mistakes.
What to Do After You’ve Sent Your EPS?
After sending you the EPS, you can see your claim and the amount that you need to pay on your account within two days or before the 14th if you have sent the EPS before the 11th. Moreover, if you have to pay via post, you need to do it by the 22nd or 19th.
What if you Haven’t Paid any Employees in a Tax Month?
In such a case you need to send an EPS (instead of FPS) before the 19th after the tax month if you haven’t paid any employees. The starting date of the tax month begins on the 6th.
Get HMRC guidance on what details you need to include in your EPS if you’ve not paid anyone.
In case if you don’t send your EPS, HMRC may:
- Warn you by sending you a notice via PAYE online
- provide an estimate of the amount you are liable to pay
- levy a penalty
If You’re Not Paying Anyone for a Long Term
You need to inform HMRC around a year in advance that you’ll not be paying any of your employees. For it, you need to add dates in the ‘Period of inactivity’ section in your EPS.
Quick Sum Up
We hope that you have got enough information on the employer payment summary, when and how to send it (automatically and manually), how to rectify errors and what to do after its submission. Moreover, this post also covers major issues regarding EPS. Still, if you want to know more about EPS, you can contact us for assistance.
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Disclaimer: This blog is written for general information on the EPS.
