It is common for some employers to pay their workers earlier than usual in December, for example if the business will be closed during the festive period.
While this may make sense for the business, being paid early can have an unwanted impact on an employee’s current and future entitlements to income-based benefits. To help avoid this, HMRC has reminded employers of the permanent easement on Real Time Information (RTI) requirements that applies where a business chooses to pay staff early during this time.
Normally, the PAYE RTI Full Payment Submission (FPS) must be submitted on or before the date employees are paid. However, if you choose to pay your workers earlier than the contractual payment date in December, to protect their eligibility for benefits such as Universal Credit you should report the normal or contractual payday as the payment date on your FPS.
For example: if your normal payment date is 30 December but you decide to pay your employees on 20 December before your business closes for Christmas, you need to report the payment date as 30 December and submit the FPS on or before that date.
