RTI Specification Changes 2014/15
HMRC have announced some data item changes / additions to be effective from the start of the 2014/15 tax year, i.e. from the first payment date in the next tax year. Many of these are to do with the necessary specification changes needed as we change from one tax year into the next, however, the new items can be summarised as follows:
Full Payment Submission (FPS)
Hours Worked (Field 54)
Have to be reported in the following bands from the first payment date in 2014/14 tax year:
A
Up to 15.99 hours
B
16 to 23.99 hours
C
24 to 29.99 hours
D
30+
E
Other
The only current band that is unaffected is band A (up to 15.99). The current band B will need to be spilt into two bands (16 to 23.99 and 24 to 29.99) whilst employees in band C will move to band D and employees in band D will move to E
Tax Code (Field 55)
Tax code FT will no longer be valid
This code is often used to indicate Farmers Tax where the contract is for 12 months or less
Late Reporting Reason
A
Notional payment: Payment to expat by third party or overseas employer
B
Notional payment: Employer-related security
C
Notional payment; Other
D
Payment subject to Class 1 NICs but P11D / P9D for tax
E
No requirement to maintain a Deductions Working Sheet
F
Impractical to report work done on the day
G
Reasonable excuse
H
Correction to earlier submission
New field to enable an employer to advise HMRC why the FPS has not been submitted in accordance with the overriding ‘on or before’ rule
Employer Payment Submission (EPS)
Value of SSP recovered YTD (Field 91)
Removed
This is coupled with the abolition of the Percentage Threshold Scheme from April 2014 where employers will no longer be able to recover any of the SSP that they may have paid
Value of NICs Holiday YTD
Removed
This is coupled with the abolition of the NICs Holiday scheme in 2013, therefore, any recoveries will have to be made in the 2013/14 tax year
Name of Account Holder (Field 156)
The name of the holder of the bank / building society account from where the payment to HMRC’s Accounts Office is being made
New data item
Account Number (Field 157)
The account number of the bank / building society from where the payment to HMRC’s Accounts Office is being made
New data item
Branch Sort Code (Field 158)
The sort code of the bank / building society from where the payment to HMRC’s Accounts Office is being made
New data item
Building Society Reference (Field 159)
The Building Society reference number, if applicable, of the society from where the payment to HMRC’s Accounts Office is being made
New data item
Employment Allowance Indicator (Field 166)
An indicator to allow for the monthly / quarterly reclaim of the Employment Allowance (which offsets an annual maximum £2,000.00 against Secondary NICs)
New data item
Comment
The Hours Worked changes look to be an administration burden on someone, presumably the employer and software developer who will have to reallocate all of the current bandings plus split band B into two.
It is unclear to me which of the new items are mandatory, i.e. will cause the file to reject if they are not completed. For certain, however, all employers should be indicating that they are entitled to the Employment Allowance as, presumably; this is the indicator in the payroll system / Basic PAYE Tools that will allow the employer to recover up to £2,000.00 of Secondary NICs from their payment to the Accounts Office – without it, the system will not calculate the appropriate reclaim.
Further Information
HMRC – Software Developers’ RTI Changes 2014/15
Payroll Help 21 March 2013 – Budget 2013 National Insurance Contributions
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