The reporting requirements for employers providing salary/wage advances to employees changed from 6 April 2024.
HMRC concluded that regulations requiring multiple RTI returns from employers are burdensome and can result in PAYE coding or Universal Credit errors. From 6 April 2024, HMRC simplified the process for employers.
Treatment prior to 6 April 2024
The rules prior to 6 April 2024 were that any salary/wage advances paid to an employee were treated as a payment on account of taxable earnings.
Employers wee therefore required to submit a Full Payment Submission (FPS) for each advance under RTI reporting. The balance on the monthly salary/wage was then paid and reported with another FPS to HMRC on the regular payment date.
This approach often resulted in several FPS reports being made during one pay period (a pay period is usually a month).
Changes from 6 April 2024
From the start of the new tax year, both the advance payments and the subsequent reduced regular relevant payment are treated as a single salary/wage payment. This means that one FPS report can be submitted for the pay period (usually a month). This FPS should be filed at date the reduced regular relevant payment is made.
This is a very welcome simplification for employers. It should also reduce PAYE coding or Universal Credit errors.
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