As you may be aware the Real Time Information (RTI) scheme came in to place on 6th April 2013. Employers have been required to submit Payroll information to HMRC on a monthly basis and on or before the day they make the payment under this scheme. However penalties for non-compliance are only just being introduced for employers with fewer than 50 employees.
This means that contractors are now going to be subject to RTI filing penalties if their Payroll submissions are submitted late or not submitted at all from 6th March 2015.
The amount you are charged depends on how many employees you have. Contractors will fall in to the lower penalty bracket due to having less than 9 employees, therefore the monthly penalty will be £100. However if the submission is over 3 months late you can be charged an additional penalty which will be calculated at 5% of the tax and National Insurance that should have been reported. In addition if the penalty is not paid within 30 days then you may be charged interest.
Appeals can be made against the penalties to HMRC using the online services or in writing. Please note that if errors arise when taking reasonable care then no penalty applies. Also if you make unprompted disclosure to HMRC due to failure to take reasonable care then a penalty can be reduced to zero.
As Payroll is a task for your accountant you don’t need to worry too much about this, however you will have a part to play. You will need to make sure that any Payroll queries are answered in plenty of time and that you only make payment of your salary once the RTI submission has been made. In addition if RTI is not something that you are aware of it is important to gain an understanding of your accountants Payroll process to minimise the risks of penalties.
Don’t risk receiving these unnecessary penalties, here at Gorilla Accounting we can help! We offer compliant payroll services for up to 2 employees as part of our single, simple, all inclusive package.
We have structured our contractor specialist service offering around both our own experience and feedback from contractors themselves. We don’t want to confuse you by offering a range of different complex packages, we want to keep it simple so you can be sure exactly what you get for your money.
For more information on exactly what we offer check out our all-inclusive accountancy package, which includes access to cloud bookkeeping software, and unlimited support from your own specialist contractor accountant. Call 0330 024 0406 to try our software for FREE.
