Oh no - more RTI PAYE questions

[mjb1]

Trying to get my head around all this PAYE RTI stuff. Small business, 2 employees (one is director), currently using HMRC basic PAYE tools, and planning to use their new RTI equivalent.

I've read somewhere in their info that I can't update the basic PAYE tools software/install their RTI software, until I've done the year end submission for 2012/13. But I believe that I also can't pay anyone until we are running with the new RTI software. So that means we either need to get the EOY submission done pretty quick, or we don't pay anyone for this month. Is this right?

We currently pay wages monthly, on the last day of the month. But if I'm too busy (or for cashflow), it might slip back a bit. Would there be any point sliding our standard monthly pay date to the 6th of the following month, which would then give us a full 30 days to get in the HMRC's month window? Or am I being daft? It would mean that we effectively have a barren month for wages during the changeover, unless I brought the pay date forward instead.

What's all this about a BACS reference requirement? I either pay using regular online banking (faster payments), or credit my director's loan account. Will this matter?

Why have they sent me an employer payment booklet and envelopes, is that still necessary in this day and age? It must cost them a fortune if they are still sending that out to every employer in the land!

I notice that I have to submit 'average working hours' for each employee (I will be in the 30+ category), but that would put me well under the min. wage. Could this be a problem?

[mjb1]

Been trying to do my first RTI submission, using HMRC's PAYE Basic Tools software. But it just sits on "initialising submission" and never gets any further. It appears to be a known issue, I tried the fix detailed on their website - backup, uninstall, reinstall etc. Called the helpline, they didn't have any more suggestions, other than to wait for the update at the end of this month.

Anyone else had this issue? Managed to overcome it?

[mjb1]

sumo69 said:

Eric

Have you filed any "nil payment for the month" yet, such as 1 man companies who only get paid annually in March?

Apparently, you have to ask HMRC to put these schemes onto an annual basis or make monthly returns!

David

In the HMRC basic tools software, there is a tick box in each employee's settings called "paid on an irregular basis". The built in help says that if an employee isn't paid regularly (i.e. a submission made), and you haven't ticked the box, after 3 months of non payments HMRC assumes they have left your employment and issues their P45.

I assume other software has a similar option, or it might get messy!

[mjb1]

On the old PAYE tools, it would show you an electronic equivalent of the P11 working sheet with all payments and deductions for an employee, itemised week by week/month by month. But I can't find that on the new RTI version.

Is it in there? I thought I'd seen it previously, but now I can't find it again. I can view the details for each payment submission, and I can find the YTD totals, but it is very useful to see the whole lot laid out in one table.

[mjb1]

Funny this thread should come back up - I have another question for the experts: I'm just getting round to doing last months wages (normally pay on last day of the month, but been too busy last few days). So if I do it today and enter today's date, then at the end of October I enter this months wages for 31st, two months worth of wages fall into October. Will we end up with extra NI being deducted because of this (our employee's pay period is monthly)?

If so, I'd be better to enter it as 31st September, and suffer a late submission.