The report clock — driven by payday. Send a Full Payment Submission (FPS) on or before payday, every pay run. Add an Employer Payment Summary (EPS) by the 19th of the following tax month when you have recoveries, the Apprenticeship Levy, or paid no one.
The payment clock — driven by the tax month. The tax month runs from the 6th to the 5th. Pay the PAYE bill by the 22nd of the next tax month electronically, or the 19th if you pay by post — or quarterly if you usually pay less than £1,500 a month.
Then the year. Mark your last FPS the final submission for the year, give employees a P60 by 31 May, and report expenses and benefits (P11D / P11D(b)) by 6 July.
The monthly clock, in order
This is one tax month. The FPS row repeats on every payday inside it; the EPS and payment rows fall in the following tax month. Read it top to bottom as the cycle you run over and over.
Report your employees' pay, any payrolled benefits and deductions in a Full Payment Submission "on or before their payday (unless an exception applies)." Enter the usual date you pay your employees, even if you pay them earlier or later — for example, if payday falls on a bank holiday and you pay early, still enter your regular payday. A weekly payroll does this 52 times a year; a monthly payroll, 12. Send it on or before payday even if you pay HMRC quarterly instead of monthly.
Data lodgedEverything downstream is timed off this boundary, not the calendar month. The amount you owe is the tax, National Insurance and other deductions reported on your FPS in the previous tax month, minus any reductions on an EPS you send before the 19th of the current tax month.
Send an Employer Payment Summary as well as the FPS if you reclaim statutory parental or neonatal-care payments, claim the Employment Allowance (once each tax year), reclaim CIS deductions as a limited company, or pay the Apprenticeship Levy (monthly, through the EPS, if your annual pay bill is over £3 million). Send an EPS instead of an FPS if you paid no employees in the tax month. "Send an EPS by the 19th of the following tax month for HMRC to apply any reduction … The tax month starts on the 6th."
Data lodgedPay your PAYE bill to HMRC by the 22nd of the next tax month if you pay monthly. "If you pay by cheque through the post, it must reach HMRC by the 19th of the month." Note the EPS cutoff sits three days ahead of the electronic payment date — send any reduction before the 19th so it lands on the bill you pay on the 22nd.
Payment made"If you usually pay less than £1,500 per month, you may be able to pay quarterly instead of monthly. Contact the payment helpline to find out." The quarterly bill is due by the 22nd after the end of the quarter — for example, 22 July for the 6 April to 5 July quarter. The FPS still goes on or before every payday regardless.
Every payday — the FPS
The FPS is the heartbeat of RTI, and it is tied to payday, not to any monthly date. You send it from your payroll software "to tell HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) about payments to your employees and what deductions to their pay you've made," including everyone you pay even if they get less than £96 a week. Because it follows payday, its cadence is set by your pay cycle — but the deadline itself never moves: on or before the day you pay. Before your very first FPS you need an employer PAYE reference — see registrations and employer IDs. The exceptions, late-reporting reason codes and corrections mechanics are covered in depth on the RTI lodgement page.
The monthly submissions — EPS and paying HMRC
Two things fall in the tax month after the one you reported. The EPS (by the 19th) tells HMRC to reduce what you owe — for statutory-pay recoveries, the Employment Allowance, CIS reclaims, the Apprenticeship Levy, or a no-payment month. The payment (by the 22nd electronically, the 19th by post) settles the PAYE bill that your FPS produced. Get the ordering right and the reduction on the EPS lands on the bill before you pay it. The mechanics of what remits together, Direct Debit, and the late-payment and late-filing penalty ladders are on the RTI lodgement page; how these deadlines line up across a whole year is on the reporting calendar. For the deductions themselves, see PAYE, NI and auto-enrolment.
The year-end markers
On top of the monthly cycle sit a few fixed annual dates. These are summarised here; the full year-end process is on the RTI lodgement page and laid out by period on the reporting calendar.
"Send your final Full Payment Submission (FPS) on or before your employees' last payday of the tax year (which ends on 5 April). Put 'Yes' in the 'Final submission for year' field (if available) in your payroll software." If you missed the flag or paid no one in the final period, send the final report as an EPS instead.
Data lodged"Give your employees a P60 — By 31 May." One P60 per employee who is still working for you at the end of the tax year, summarising their pay and deductions.
"Report employee expenses and benefits — By 6 July." Submit the online P11D for benefits and the P11D(b) for the Class 1A National Insurance you owe. Fewer than 500 employees: file through HMRC's PAYE Online service; 500 or more: file through your payroll software.
Data lodged"You need to pay contributions on work benefits [Class 1A NIC] by 22 July each year for the previous tax year. You'll need to pay by 19 July if paying by post." — the year-end echo of the monthly 22nd/19th rule.
Payment madeQuick answers
When must I send the FPS each pay run?
Send a Full Payment Submission (FPS) on or before your employees' payday — GOV.UK's rule is to report pay, any payrolled benefits and deductions in an FPS "on or before their payday (unless an exception applies)." Enter the usual date you pay your employees, even if you pay them earlier or later: for example, if payday falls on a bank holiday and you pay early, you should still enter your regular payday. Send the FPS on or before payday even if you pay HMRC quarterly instead of monthly.
When do I pay HMRC, and can I pay quarterly?
Pay your PAYE bill by the 22nd of the next tax month if you pay monthly, or by the 22nd after the end of the quarter if you pay quarterly; if you pay by cheque through the post it must reach HMRC by the 19th. Tax months start on the 6th. If you usually pay less than £1,500 per month you may be able to pay quarterly instead of monthly — contact HMRC's payment helpline to find out.
When is the EPS due, and what is it for?
Send an Employer Payment Summary (EPS) as well as the FPS if you reclaim statutory maternity, paternity, adoption, neonatal care, parental bereavement or shared parental payments, claim the Employment Allowance (once each tax year), reclaim Construction Industry Scheme deductions as a limited company, or pay the Apprenticeship Levy; send an EPS instead of an FPS if you have not paid any employees in a tax month. Send the EPS by the 19th of the following tax month for HMRC to apply any reduction on what you will owe from your FPS — the tax month starts on the 6th.
What are the year-end deadlines?
Send your final FPS on or before your employees' last payday of the tax year (which ends on 5 April) and put "Yes" in the "Final submission for year" field. Give your employees a P60 by 31 May, and report expenses and benefits by 6 July — the online P11D and P11D(b) forms. Any Class 1A National Insurance on those benefits must be paid by 22 July each year for the previous tax year, or by 19 July if you pay by post. The full RTI process detail lives on the statutory lodgement page.
Every clock, on time
Ledra Pay builds the FPS on every finalised pay run — ready to file on or before payday — raises the EPS when a month needs one, tracks the 22nd/19th payment window and closes the tax year, with an evidence trail behind every deadline. Today the output files through your own HMRC route; a direct submission rail to HMRC is next on the roadmap, being built with a design partner.
See Ledra Pay coverage →Government sources
- GOV.UK — What payroll information to report to HMRC (report pay and deductions in an FPS "on or before their payday").
- GOV.UK — Running payroll: Reporting to HMRC (FPS) (enter your usual payday; send on or before payday even if you pay HMRC quarterly; include everyone paid less than £96 a week).
- GOV.UK — Running payroll: Reporting to HMRC (EPS) (what the EPS is for; by the 19th of the following tax month; the tax month starts on the 6th).
- GOV.UK — Pay employers' PAYE (pay by the 22nd of the next tax month, or the 22nd after the quarter; the 19th if by post).
- GOV.UK — Running payroll: Paying HMRC (usually pay less than £1,500 per month → may be able to pay quarterly; the monthly amount owed).
- GOV.UK — Payroll: annual reporting and tasks (final FPS on or before the last payday; P60 by 31 May; report expenses and benefits by 6 July).
- GOV.UK — Expenses and benefits for employers (the online P11D and P11D(b); the 500-employee filing split).
- GOV.UK — Pay employers' Class 1A National Insurance (pay by 22 July each year, or 19 July by post).
- GOV.UK — Pay Apprenticeship Levy (report and pay monthly through the EPS; pay bill over £3 million).
Per-claim citations, the late-reporting reason codes, penalty ladders and the Bacs rails are on the RTI lodgement page; the same deadlines organised by period are on the reporting calendar.
Related
The FPS, EPS and paying HMRC in full — exceptions, reason codes, penalties and the Bacs plumbing.
The same deadlines organised by period — monthly, quarterly and the tax-year strip.
The deductions that fill the FPS and the PAYE bill you then pay.