Real Time Information explained for UK employers — what RTI requires, what the submissions are, why the monthly timing matters and what happens when it goes wrong.
RTI — Real Time Information — is HMRC's requirement that UK employers submit payroll data to HMRC on or before every pay date, not at year end. Every salary payment triggers a Full Payment Submission (FPS) that must reach HMRC before the employee receives their pay. If no salary is paid in a month, an Employer Payment Summary (EPS) must be filed instead. Together, the FPS and EPS are the two RTI submissions every employer makes every month without exception.
What RTI replaced — and why it changed
Before April 2013, employers submitted a single annual return — the P35 — at the end of each tax year. HMRC received payroll data once a year, in arrears. It had no visibility of monthly payroll accuracy until the year was over.
RTI changed that. Now HMRC receives payroll data in real time — before the money leaves the employer's account. This means tax discrepancies surface immediately, underpayments are visible monthly and HMRC can verify employee income claims against live payroll records.
For employers, the change meant the monthly payroll submission became a legal deadline, not an annual administrative task.
The two RTI submissions every employer makes
Submission
When it is filed
What it contains
What happens if missed
Full Payment Submission (FPS)
On or before every payday
Every employee paid: gross, tax code, deductions, YTD
The FPS is not just a payment notification. It is a complete payroll record for every employee paid in that run.
—
Employee NI number and date of birth
—
Tax code and basis (cumulative or week 1/month 1)
—
Gross pay for the period
—
Income tax deducted
—
Employee and employer National Insurance contributions
—
NI category
—
Year-to-date figures for all of the above
—
Payment date
—
Starter and leaver flags where applicable
HMRC holds this data against each employee's personal tax account and uses it to verify self-assessment returns, process tax credits and calculate PAYE reconciliations.
Why RTI timing creates problems for self-managed payroll
The RTI deadline is on or before the pay date — not after, not the following day, not the same week. If the FPS is submitted after the salary is paid, it is technically late.
For businesses managing payroll in-house through software, the FPS is often filed at the same time the payslips are processed — which is correct. The problem arises when payroll is run, salaries are paid, and the RTI submission is left as an administrative task that slips. By the time it is filed, it is late. HMRC records the filing date.
A managed payroll bureau files RTI as part of the payroll run itself — the FPS goes to HMRC before or on the payment date, every time, as a non-negotiable step in the process.
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RTI stands for Real Time Information. It is HMRC's requirement that UK employers submit a Full Payment Submission to HMRC on or before the date of every salary payment. RTI replaced the annual payroll return in April 2013. Under RTI, HMRC receives payroll data in real time — before the employee's money leaves the employer's account.
A Full Payment Submission (FPS) is the RTI report filed with HMRC on or before every payday. It lists every employee paid in that run, their gross pay, their tax code, their income tax deducted, their NI category and deductions, and their year-to-date figures. A managed payroll bureau files the FPS as part of the standard monthly process.
An Employer Payment Summary (EPS) is the RTI submission filed in any month where no salary is paid — for example, when a director skips a monthly payment. Without an EPS, HMRC assumes the FPS is late and generates a penalty. The EPS tells HMRC the scheme is active and no payment was made that month.
Late RTI submissions generate automatic penalties. For a company with 1–9 employees, the penalty is £100 per month. It rises to £200 per month after three months late and can reach £3,000 for submissions more than 12 months overdue. HMRC does not chase before penalising — it calculates and issues the penalty notice.
Yes. Every UK employer operating a PAYE scheme must submit RTI — Full Payment Submissions on or before every payday, or Employer Payment Summaries in months with no payments. This applies to single-director limited companies, micro-businesses with one employee and large employers alike.
No. RTI must be filed on or before each pay date. It cannot be batched quarterly or done at year end. Some accountants and directors have managed payroll this way historically — but retrospective RTI submissions are late filings and generate penalties. HMRC's records show the submission date.