PAYE41001 - employer returns: record receipt of employer return: introduction

Each employer and contractor must submit an annual return to HMRC. The return is a summary of

• Tax and National Insurance deductions made from employees and subcontractors
• Total payments of tax credits made to certain employees
• Student Loan deductions made from employees who are student borrowers

The return and relevant enclosures must be submitted on an official employer annual return to a Processing Office by the due date following the end of each tax year. No substitute forms will be accepted. That date is the 19th of May, (This text has been withheld because of exemptions in the Freedom of Information Act 2000). If the return is not received by that date penalties under S98A(2) TMA 1970 will automatically accrue.

Cessation Returns

Returns that are required at other times, for example for a period to the date of cessation will normally be sent to the local Debt Management Office who will apply the paper quality standard checks to the returns and either accept and record receipt of the return or return it to the submitter with a failure letter.

The return will then be sent to the Processing Office at 6 April to forward the P14s to NICO and capture the return.

There are different types of return and some employers may submit more than one return of the same or different type in any year.

There is no facility to record receipt of additional returns in Function RECORD RETURN RECEIPT. For more information about additional returns see section ‘Capture Employer Return - 2005 Onwards’ PAYE43000 onwards

From April 2005 returns for year 2004/05 can be submitted in parts when they are filed online or use Magnetic Media. If an employer intends to send the whole return by paper, then the return must be submitted as a complete return and not in parts.

Responsibilities

On the date of receipt the Processing Office must

• Date stamp the returns that are received
• Forward any return received remotely to the correct Responsible Organisation Unit (ROU) for them to record the receipt
• Make the paper quality standard checks to ensure that the return or return part received is completed correctly. For further information see section ‘Employer Return – Quality Checks’ PAYE40000 onwards
• If a change of address is noted on the front of the return use Function AMEND EMPLOYER SUMMARY to change the address
• Deal with any payments sent in with the returns
• Record the date of receipt of all parts of employer returns, which pass the quality standard checks, on the Employer Business Service (EBS) computer (except in- year returns that must be referred to the Debt Management Office)

How to record receipt of an employer return

To be able to record receipt of a return or return part the operator must be allocated the EBS Employer Maintainer or EBS Receivables user role. Returns and return parts are recorded as received using Function RECORD RETURN RECEIPT.

Viewing details of returns received and receipted

After recording receipt of each return the following details can be viewed using Function VIEW EOY RETURNS HISTORY. Some details are not held for years up to 2003/04 and will not be displayed.

• The year of the return
• Scheme Type
• Status of the return
• Number of returns held
• Whether return was Filed Online

Return Receipt Details show the details of each part of the return

• The submission type
• The media used to submit the return
• The date of receipt
• Return class
• Version number of the receipt recorded (1 to 99)
• The Return Status Indicator (RSI) (1, 2 or 3)
• Number of P14s received
• Number of parts received
• The organisation unit of the office where the return was recorded as received except

The EBS user roles EBS Employer Maintainer and EBS Employer View will allow operators access to this function.

You must only view an employer record if there is a business need to do so.

Amending or deleting recorded return details

In day to day working errors may be discovered in the recorded as received return details. For example

• The date of receipt may have been recorded incorrectly
• The tax year or return type may not be correct
• The media type may have been recorded incorrectly

These details can be amended or deleted by using Function AMEND / DELETE EOY RETURNS RECEIPT. The operator must be allocated the EBS Employer Maintainer or EBS Receivables user role to use this function.

Layout of this section

Actions that are specific to recording the receipt of a scheme or return type will be included under the appropriate scheme or return type heading. Information about the forms can be found in section ‘Employers Return Forms’ PAYE52000 onwards.

Data Protection Act

The provisions of the Data Protection Act 1998 (DPA) apply to employer records in the same way as they apply to taxpayer records on other HMRC computers.