Real Time Information (RTI)

Real Time Information is the reporting regime that replaced the annual P14 and P35 returns from April 2013. Instead of telling HMRC once a year what it paid, an employer tells HMRC on or before every payday, through two submissions made from its payroll software.

The Full Payment Submission is the main one. It is filed on or before the date each employee is paid and carries, for every person on the payroll, the pay, the income tax, the National Insurance by category letter, student loan deductions, pension contributions and the year-to-date totals. Starters and leavers are reported through it too, which is why a P45 no longer has to be posted anywhere. The Employer Payment Summary is the second, filed by the 19th of the following tax month, and covers what the Full Payment Submission cannot: statutory pay recovery, an Employment Allowance claim, Construction Industry Scheme deductions suffered, and a declaration for a month in which nobody was paid.

RTI is the reason your tax code can change mid-year without anyone telling you. HMRC reconciles each submission against the record it holds, so a second employment, a ceased pension or a duplicated payroll identifier surfaces within weeks rather than after 5 April. It is also why a late or amended submission matters beyond the penalty: a Universal Credit award is calculated from the figure reported for the assessment period the pay date falls in, so a payday reported in the wrong period moves the award rather than merely delaying it.

If your payslip and your personal tax account disagree, the submission is the document that decides which is right. Ask your employer for the figure that was reported and the pay date it carried, not for a reprint of the payslip: the payslip is what the software displayed, and the submission is what HMRC received.