Employers with fewer than 50 staff will no longer be exempt from penalties in filing delayed PAYE information.
But, in the same announcement by HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) this week, firms will no longer incur penalties for delays of up to three days in filing such details.
Late payment penalties will continue to be reviewed on a risk-assessed basis rather than be issued automatically and there will be no changes to the filing deadlines.
A news story on the Gov.uk website added: “In addition, to prevent the unnecessary penalties being issued, HMRC will be closing around 15,000 PAYE schemes next month that have not made a PAYE report since April 2013 and which appear to have ceased.
“HMRC will write to the affected schemes to tell them about the planned closure and what to do if they are, or should be, operating PAYE.”
The changes come into effect from 6 March of this year.
As from that date all employers may incur a penalty for each tax month in which one or more PAYE reports for a scheme are late.
Those who file late, between 6 March – 5 April, for example can expect to receive a penalty notice in late May 2015. Penalties can be between £100 – £400 per month depending on the number of employees in the scheme.
HMRC has published a discussion document seeking views by 11 May about potential improvements to the way in which penalties apply for failing to pay what is owed or to meet deadlines for returns or registration.
HMRC is considering whether, and if so, how it should differentiate between those who deliberately and persistently fail to meet statutory deadlines or to pay what they should on time, and those who make occasional and genuine errors.
Following the consultation, HMRC will review the operation of the changes to the PAYE penalties by 5 April 2016.
Any employer that has received an in-year late filing penalty for the period 6 October 2014 to 5 January 2015 and was three days late or less, should appeal online by completing the “Other” box and add “Return filed within 3 days”.
