Revised PAYE timetable still tight, experts warn
Changes to the implementation of real time information do not allay concerns around tight timetable, HMRC has been warned
CHANGES MADE TO the timetable for real time information will not help, tax professionals have warned.
HM Revenue & Customs said that it had reviewed the timetable to implement real time information (RTI), which will require employers to send PAYE data to HMRC every payroll day rather than at the end of the year. It said that the pilot schemes will still begin in April 2012, but the deadline for employers to implement the system will be October 2013.
A HMRC spokesman said that during the consultation period, there well some calls for changes to the initial proposals and for the publication of a full and final specification for employes.
“Changes to the specification, coupled with a longer period for piloting before full go-live, will significantly reduce the impact on developers and increase their time to deployment from 12 to 23 months,” he said.
However, a Chartered Institute of Taxation spokesman said that these changes do not affect the timetable, which is still too tight.
Jayne Vaughan, head of employment tax at KPMG in the UK warned that HMRC has missed the 31 March deadline to let employers and software developers know what is required of them.
“Without knowing what data HMRC is going to require, there is little employers can do to get ready for what looks like being the biggest shake-up in employment tax since PAYE was introduced in 1944,” she added.
Alastair Kendrick, director of employment tax services at Mazars said there was “nothing new” in the timetable issued by HMRC. “My major concern is whether the payroll software companies are comfortable with this,” he added.