Three obligations, three different deadlines, and only one of them is on payday. Confusing them is what generates most small-employer payroll penalties.
Payslip to the employee on or before payday. Full Payment Submission to HMRC on or before payday. Employer Payment Summary by the 19th of the following tax month. Money by the 22nd. Everything below is the detail behind those four dates.
The payslip
Every employee and worker must get a payslip on or before payday. Printed or electronic, your choice.
By law it must show:
- earnings before and after any deductions
- the amount of any deductions that may change each time they are paid, for example tax and National Insurance
- the number of hours worked, if pay varies depending on time worked
Deductions fixed in amount — a season ticket loan, for instance — must be explained on the payslip or in a separate written statement, sent out before the first payslip and updated every year.
Payslips are not required for people who are not employees or workers, such as contractors and freelancers, or for the police service, merchant seamen and share fishermen.
The Full Payment Submission (FPS)
The FPS reports what you paid each employee and what you deducted. It is the core of Real Time Information.
Send it on or before payday, every pay run, even if you pay HMRC quarterly rather than monthly. Include everyone you pay, even if they earn less than £96 a week.
Enter your usual payday in the payment date field, not the date the money actually moved. If your normal payday falls on a bank holiday and you pay early, the FPS still shows the regular payday.
You can file early if payroll staff are away, but not too early — a tax code change or a leaver means a correction. You cannot send reports for a new tax year before March.
When you may file after payday
There are eight situations where a late FPS is accepted. Put the reason on the FPS each time.
| Situation | When to report |
|---|---|
| No P45 and the employee is paid under £96 a week, or has worked for you under a week | Within 7 days of paying them |
| Payday falls on a non-banking day | Next banking day, showing the regular payment date, reason code G |
| An ad hoc payment outside the regular payroll | Next regular FPS, or an additional FPS |
| An expense or benefit with National Insurance but not Income Tax through payroll | Within 14 days of the end of the tax month |
| Pay cannot be calculated in advance because it depends on the day’s work | Within 7 days of paying them |
| Certain non-cash payments | As soon as possible within 14 days of the end of the tax month, or when tax and NI are deducted if earlier |
| Your employer PAYE reference has not arrived | As soon as possible after it arrives, reason code G |
| Paying foreign tax on the employee’s behalf and the calculation is taking longer | As soon as possible and within 1 month, reason code G |
No reason, or one HMRC disagrees with, means an online penalty warning message and possibly a penalty.
The Employer Payment Summary (EPS)
The EPS is how you reduce what you owe. Send one by the 19th of the following tax month. Tax months start on the 6th.
You need an EPS if you:
- reclaim statutory maternity, paternity, adoption, neonatal care, parental bereavement or shared parental pay
- claim the Employment Allowance — once each tax year
- reclaim CIS deductions as a limited company
- pay the Apprenticeship Levy, where your annual pay bill exceeds £3 million
Send an EPS instead of an FPS if you paid nobody in a tax month. If you do not, HMRC may raise a specified charge — an estimate based on your previous filing history — and may charge a penalty. A specified charge does not replace the missing submission; only filing the actual FPS or EPS clears it.
If you will not pay anyone for between one and twelve months, enter dates in the ‘Period of inactivity’ fields on the EPS.
Paying HMRC
Pay by the 22nd of the following month, or the 19th by post. Expect to pay less than £1,500 a month and you can arrange to pay quarterly.
Late filing penalties
Penalties depend on how many employees you have, and they are monthly.
| Number of employees | Monthly penalty |
|---|---|
| 1 to 9 | £100 |
| 10 to 49 | £200 |
| 50 to 249 | £300 |
| 250 or more | £400 |
Three concessions. HMRC will not charge a penalty where:
- the FPS is late but every payment reported on it is within three days of payday — though employers who routinely file inside that window may be contacted or considered for a penalty anyway
- you are a new employer and sent your first FPS within 30 days of paying an employee
- it is your first failure in the tax year — and this one does not apply to employers registered as an annual scheme
Penalty notices go out quarterly. Pay within 30 days of the notice and you will not be charged interest. You can appeal online through HMRC’s PAYE for employers service if you think the penalty is not due, the amount is wrong, or you had a reasonable excuse. Run more than one PAYE scheme and you can be penalised for each.
Year-end
| Task | Deadline |
|---|---|
| Final payroll report of the year | On or before your employees’ payday |
| Update employee payroll records | From 6 April |
| Give employees a P60 | 31 May |
| Report expenses and benefits (P11D) | 6 July |
| Give employees a copy of the P11D information | 6 July |
| Report the total Class 1A National Insurance owed (P11D(b)) | 6 July |
| Pay Class 1A National Insurance | 22 July (19 July by cheque) |
| Pay tax and Class 1B NI under a PAYE Settlement Agreement | 22 October (19 October by cheque) |
A P60 goes to every employee on your payroll on the last day of the tax year, 5 April. The P11D(b) late penalty is £100 per 50 employees for each month or part month it is late, plus penalties and interest for paying late. If you payroll benefits through your software you do not need a P11D for those employees, but you still need the P11D(b) for Class 1A.
The 2026/27 figures behind the filings
| Item | 2026/27 |
|---|---|
| Secondary threshold | £5,000 a year (£96 a week, £417 a month) |
| Lower earnings limit | £6,708 a year (£129 a week) |
| Primary threshold | £12,570 a year (£242 a week) |
| Upper earnings limit | £50,270 a year (£967 a week) |
| Employee Class 1 | 8% to £50,270, then 2% |
| Employer Class 1 | 15% |
| Class 1A and Class 1B | 15% |
| Employment Allowance | £10,500 |
| Statutory payments recovery | 92%, or 109% if total Class 1 NI for the previous tax year was £45,000 or lower |
Statutory Sick Pay cannot be recovered from HMRC.
Frequently asked questions
When must an FPS be submitted?
On or before your employees’ payday, every pay run, even if you pay HMRC quarterly. Include everyone you pay, even if they earn less than £96 a week. Enter your usual payday in the payment date field, not the date you actually paid.
What is the EPS deadline?
The 19th of the following tax month. Tax months start on the 6th. Send an EPS to reclaim statutory pay, to claim the Employment Allowance once a year, to reclaim CIS deductions as a limited company, to pay the Apprenticeship Levy, or to tell HMRC you paid nobody in a tax month.
How much is the penalty for filing payroll late?
It is monthly and scales by employer size: £100 for 1 to 9 employees, £200 for 10 to 49, £300 for 50 to 249 and £400 for 250 or more. Penalty notices are issued quarterly and you avoid interest by paying within 30 days of the notice.
When do I have to give employees a P60?
By 31 May. A P60 goes to every employee on your payroll on the last day of the tax year, 5 April, and summarises their total pay and deductions for the year.
What is the P11D deadline and what happens if I miss it?
Expenses and benefits must be reported by 6 July after the end of the tax year, along with the P11D(b) reporting Class 1A National Insurance. Class 1A is payable by 22 July, or 19 July by cheque. A late P11D(b) costs £100 per 50 employees for each month or part month it is late.
Keeping the four dates straight
Payslip and FPS on or before payday. EPS by the 19th, payment by the 22nd. Then 31 May, 6 July and 22 July.
SmartFiling runs RTI payroll from £15 per employee per month, including auto-enrolment, payslips, P60s and year-end returns. Fixed fee, entirely online, reviewed by an ICAEW Chartered Accountant.
