With the advent of PAYE Real Time in April 2013, HMRC have advised that there will be no change to the penalties for late filing of returns for the tax years 2012–13 and 2013–14. The current penalty regime will continue to apply at the tax year end. There will be no penalties if in-year Full Payment Submissions (FPSs) are submitted late.

Employers and pension providers must submit an FPS ‘on or before’ they pay an employee/pensioner. If they still have information to send after 5 April, this can be sent on an FPS until 19 April, then on an Earlier Year Update after that.

To avoid a late filing penalty for 2012–13 and 2013–14, the final payment made to an employee or pensioner must be reported by 19 May following the end of the relevant tax year.

For the tax year 2012–13, HMRC will not charge penalties for inaccuracies identified on in-year FPS. But penalties may be charged after the end of the tax year, based on the final FPS for the year. Penalties for inaccuracies may apply to in-year returns from the 2013–14 tax year.

More information is available at http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/news/payerti-payments.htm