RTI submissions: FPS and EPS explained simply
Real Time Information is the system by which UK employers report payroll data to HMRC every time they pay employees. Before RTI was introduced in 2013, employers reported pay and deductions annually. Under RTI, every pay run generates a submission that must reach HMRC on or before the payment date. Understanding the two main submissions — the Full Payment Submission and the Employer Payment Summary — is essential for compliant payroll.
The Full Payment Submission (FPS) is sent every time you pay an employee. It tells HMRC who was paid, how much they were paid, how much income tax and NI was deducted, and any student loan or postgraduate loan repayments made. It must be submitted on or before the date the employee is paid — not the day after, not within the month, but on or before the payment date.
The FPS contains: the employer's PAYE reference and accounts office reference, the employee's name, NI number, date of birth, the tax code applied, the pay period number, gross earnings, year-to-date figures for pay and tax, NI contributions (both employee and employer), student loan deductions, any statutory payments (SMP, SPP, SSP), and the payment date.
Late FPS submissions attract automatic penalties from HMRC. The penalty structure depends on the number of employees: from £100 per month for smaller payrolls to £400 per month for payrolls with 250 or more employees. HMRC can waive first-time late penalties if there is a reasonable excuse, but repeated late submissions are penalised without discretion.
The Employer Payment Summary (EPS) is a different submission. It does not record individual pay — it provides information about payments you are making to HMRC or adjustments to your overall liability. The EPS is submitted when you have no employees to pay in a given month, when you are recovering SMP or other statutory payments, when you are claiming employment allowance, or at year end to confirm that the final FPS is indeed final.
The most common EPS scenarios are:
No payment this period: If you have no employees to pay in a given month — perhaps during a quiet period for a seasonal business — you must still submit a nil EPS to HMRC to confirm no payment is due. Failing to do this results in HMRC estimating a payment based on previous months.
Statutory payment recovery: Employers who qualify to recover SMP, SPP, or other statutory payments (small employers below the NI threshold) claim the recovery amount via EPS. The EPS shows the gross SMP paid and the recovery amount, which is offset against the next HMRC payment.
Employment Allowance: Eligible employers can claim up to £10,500 off their employer NI liability per year. The Employment Allowance is claimed via EPS at the start of each tax year. It applies to most employers — it does not apply to companies where the director is the sole employee.
The submission window for EPS is the 19th of each month following the tax month end (the tax month runs from the 6th of one month to the 5th of the next). So for the April tax month (6 April to 5 May), the EPS deadline is 19 May.
See our PAYE explained guide for how RTI fits into the full payroll cycle, and the UK payroll calendar 2026-27 for the full set of monthly and annual deadlines.
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