Earlier Year Update (EYU)

The Earlier Year Update (EYU) was an RTI submission type used by employers to correct payroll figures for a tax year that had already closed. It carried delta values rather than absolute totals — for example, a +£200 EYU on Pay added £200 to the employee's already-reported year-to-date pay in HMRC's records.

From April 2020 (for corrections to the 2019/20 tax year onwards) HMRC began accepting Year-End amended Full Payment Submissions (FPS) instead, and from April 2021 the EYU was withdrawn for new corrections. Any correction to a tax year from 2020/21 onwards must now be made via an amended FPS that carries the full corrected year-to-date figures, not deltas. The EYU remains in scope for legacy systems still adjusting earlier years (2017/18, 2018/19, 2019/20).

Worked example: In June 2026 a payroll team discovers it under-reported a leaver's bonus of £1,500 in the 2024/25 tax year. Because the year is post-2020/21, they cannot file an EYU. Instead they submit an amended Month 12 FPS for 2024/25, restating the employee's full year-to-date pay (now including the £1,500). HMRC will reconcile the change against the employee's tax record, issue a P800 if tax is owed or due back, and update the employer's RTI account. Glossary entries about EYU are kept for historical reference because legacy payroll software still references them.