How to report early PAYE Christmas payments

Many employers pay employees early in December so HMRC have published guidance on RTI reporting obligations for employers over the Christmas period. 

With some businesses closed over Christmas and New Year since 2019, if employees receive their pay earlier than usual there is an easement for reporting PAYE information in real time. When submitting the Full Payment Submission (FPS) HMRC advises to report the contractual pay day on the full payment submission (FPS) rather than the actual payment date. 

Doing this will help protect your employees’ eligibility for Universal Credit, by avoiding double monthly earnings in one assessment period which could affect further entitlements. 

HMRC provide the following guidance: “if you pay on Friday 17 December 2021 but the normal (or contractual) payment date is Friday 31 December 2021, please report the payment date on the FPS as 31 December and ensure the submission is sent on or before 31 December 2021.” 

This easement of obligations is only applicable over the Christmas period - normal PAYE reporting obligations for employers remain outside of this period and payments must be reported on or before the date employees are paid.