{"id":2234,"date":"2019-03-08T13:00:42","date_gmt":"2019-03-08T13:00:42","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-gb\/blog\/real-time-information-rti-the-basics\/"},"modified":"2026-01-29T10:25:47","modified_gmt":"2026-01-29T10:25:47","slug":"real-time-information-rti-the-basics","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-gb\/blog\/real-time-information-rti-the-basics\/","title":{"rendered":"Real Time Information (RTI): the basics"},"content":{"rendered":"<header class=\"entry-header has-dark-background-color entry-header--has-illustration entry-header--has-illustration--generic\">\n\t<div class=\"container\">\n\t\t<div class=\"entry-header__row row align-center\">\n\t\t\t<div class=\"col col-lg-7 col-xlg-6 entry-header__content\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"component component-single-header\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"entry-header__misc text--subtitle text--uppercase text--small\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<a href=\"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-gb\/blog\/category\/strategy-legal-operations\/\" class=\"entry-header__link\">Strategy, Legal &amp; Operations<\/a>\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"entry-title-wrapper\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<h1 class=\"entry-title\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\tReal Time Information (RTI): the basics\t\t\t\t\t<\/h1>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p class=\"entry-header__description\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t<\/div>\n\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t<\/div>\n\t<div class=\"single-post-details container\">\n\t\t<div class=\"col\">\n\t\t\t<span class=\"posted-on \"><time class=\"entry-date published\" datetime=\"2019-03-08T13:00:42+00:00\">8 March, 2019<\/time><\/span><span class=\"reading-time\"> min read<\/span>\n\t\t<button\n\t\t\ttype=\"button\"\n\t\t\tclass=\"social-share-button button button--icon button--secondary js-social-share-button\"\n\t\t\tdata-share-title=\"Real Time Information (RTI): the basics\"\n\t\t\tdata-share-url=\"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-gb\/blog\/real-time-information-rti-the-basics\/\"\n\t\t\tdata-share-text=\"Please read this interesting article\"\n\t\t>\n\t\t\t<span class=\"social-share-button__share-label\">Share<\/span>\n\t\t\t<span class=\"social-share-button__copy-label\" hidden>Copy Link<\/span>\n\t\t\t<span class=\"social-share-button__copy-tooltip\" aria-hidden=\"true\" hidden>Copied<\/span>\n\t\t<\/button>\n\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t<\/div>\n<\/header>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-post-author has-dark-background-color alignfull\">\n\t<div class=\"container\">\n\t\t<div class=\"col\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"co-authors\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t<div class=\"entry-author-wrapper\">\n\t\t\t<a class=\"entry-author\" href=\"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-gb\/blog\/author\/bryancollins\/\">\n\t\t\t\t<img decoding=\"async\" alt=\"\" src=\"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-au\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2019\/07\/Bryan-Collins.jpg\" class=\"entry-author__image\" height=\"40\" width=\"40\" fetchpriority=\"high\" \/>\t\t\t\t<span class=\"entry-author__name\">Bryan Collins<\/span>\n\t\t\t<\/a>\n\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n<p>Real Time Information (RTI) is the most significant change ever made to PAYE. An improved way of reporting, RTI is designed to make PAYE submissions more efficient &#8211; meaning you&#8217;ll need to submit information to HMRC in real time, every time <a href=\"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-gb\/payroll-software\/\">you pay employees<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-what-is-real-time-information\">What is Real Time Information?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Real Time Information doesn&#8217;t change the way you calculate PAYE; it just means you&#8217;ll need to make more regular submissions. RTI was introduced in 2013.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Each time you pay your employees, you&#8217;ll need to submit PAYE information to HMRC, rather than just once a year at <a href=\"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-gb\/blog\/payroll-year-end\/\">payroll year end<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Following concerns over the impact of RTI on small businesses, rules of reporting were temporarily relaxed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>But from October 2014 those relaxed rules were lifted and small businesses need to start reporting each time they pay their employees &#8211; not just on a monthly basis.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>You&#8217;ll still need to process PAYE in the same way but you&#8217;ll need to submit the payroll information to HMRC on or before the day you pay each of your employees.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"single-cta\">\n\t<div class=\"single-cta__positioner\">\n\t\t<div class=\"single-cta__wrapper has-dark-background-color\">\n\t\t\t<div class=\"single-cta__content\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<h2 class=\"single-cta__title h3\">Paying the nation<\/h2>\n\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"single-cta__description\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<p>Want to know how to pay your employees with ease while keeping up with the latest payroll legislation? Request a call back and learn more.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<a\n\t\t\t\t\t\thref=\"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-gb\/cp\/payingthenation\/\"\n\t\t\t\t\t\tclass=\"single-cta__button button button--primary\"\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tid=\"cta-id-6170\"\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tdata-button-location=\"cta_box\"\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t>Find out more<\/a>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\n\t\t\t\t\t<img decoding=\"async\" width=\"1216\" height=\"810\" src=\"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-gb\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/10\/2019\/02\/33958.SAGE_SOAPSMITH_2018_BusinessBuilder_553-1216x810.jpg\" class=\"single-cta__image\" alt=\"\" loading=\"lazy\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-gb\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/10\/2019\/02\/33958.SAGE_SOAPSMITH_2018_BusinessBuilder_553-1216x810.jpg 1216w\" sizes=\"auto, (min-width: 48em) 33vw, 100vw\" \/>\t\t\t<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-you-have-to\">You have to&#8230;<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Provide P60s<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Submit P9D, P11D &amp; P11D(b) forms<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-how-do-i-submit-information-to-hmrc\">How do I submit information to HMRC?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>You&#8217;ll need to do this using a Full Payment Submission (FPS). If you have <a href=\"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-gb\/payroll-software\/\">payroll software<\/a> it will generate the required reports and submit your payroll information online to HMRC.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>If you don&#8217;t need to pay any employees in a particular tax month, you&#8217;ll have no FPS to send to HMRC. You must notify them by sending an <a href=\"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-gb\/blog\/glossary\/what-is-eps\/\">Employer Payment Summary<\/a> (EPS) by the 19th of the following tax month. This will make sure HMRC don&#8217;t wrongly send a penalty notice because they were expecting an FPS from you.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Read more about payroll<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-gb\/blog\/payroll-year-end\/\">Payroll year end checklist: Here\u2019s what your business needs to do<\/a><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-gb\/blog\/payroll-for-your-small-business\/\">An ultimate guide to payroll for your small business<\/a><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-gb\/blog\/gdpr-and-payroll\/\">GDPR and payroll: 10 things your business needs to have done<\/a><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-gb\/blog\/payroll-compliance-guide\/\">The ultimate guide to payroll compliance and legislation<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity\"\/>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-what-happens-if-i-don-t-submit-to-hmrc\">What happens if I don&#8217;t submit to HMRC?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>HMRC will penalise any employer not submitting a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-gb\/blog\/glossary\/what-is-fps\/\">Full Payment Submission<\/a> or Employer Payment Summary on time. They&#8217;ll also penalise you if your payments are late.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-outsourcing\">Outsourcing<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"pr_15\">If you&#8217;re outsourcing your payroll be mindful that submitting RTI is still your responsibility. Ask your provider how they&#8217;re complying with RTI and if it means any changes for your business.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-managing-in-house\">Managing in-house<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>Ask your <a href=\"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-gb\/payroll-software\/\">payroll software<\/a> provider if they&#8217;re RTI-ready. It&#8217;s essential you make sure you&#8217;re using software that&#8217;s legally compliant with the support you need to submit PAYE in real time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-common-rti-pitfalls-to-be-aware-of\">Common RTI pitfalls to be aware of<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>There are two areas you need to consider when dealing with RTI. They are:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>The late filing of in-year Full Payment Submission and\u00a0Employer Payment Summary details.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Getting the details correct. Different elements of pay might need different tax and National Insurance treatments. When it comes to getting the calculations right, attention to detail is key. The likes of sick pay, expenses and pension payments need to be dealt with in the correct way.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>If your employees have different working patterns, make sure you reflect them in your payroll processing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-what-rti-means-for-your-employees\">What RTI means for your employees<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Your employees will benefit from RTI as it helps to improve the accuracy of tax codes during the year. This results in fewer members of your staff having to pay additional tax when you get to the end of the year. In addition, any overpayments or underpayments will be smaller in value.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><em>Editor&#8217;s note: This article was published in August 2017 and has been updated for relevance.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"single-cta gated-content\">\n\t<div class=\"single-cta__positioner\">\n\t\t<div class=\"single-cta__wrapper has-dark-background-color\">\n\t\t\t<div class=\"single-cta__content\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<h2 class=\"single-cta__title h3\">The ultimate guide to payroll compliance<\/h2>\n\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"single-cta__description\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<p>Facing the challenge of keeping up with payroll compliance? Read this guide for essential tips to make sure your business complies with the relevant payroll legislation.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<a\n\t\t\t\t\t\thref=\"#gate-22f63cc4-4bd3-47ed-93cf-d71df67c49a8\"\n\t\t\t\t\t\tclass=\"single-cta__button button button--primary\"\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t>Get your free guide<\/a>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"single-cta__downloads\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t11,055 readers have downloaded this guide\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\n\t\t\t\t\t<img decoding=\"async\" width=\"1213\" height=\"810\" src=\"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-gb\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/10\/2019\/01\/PMARCHITECTS_BB_03_078_2018_32240-1213x810.jpg\" class=\"single-cta__image\" alt=\"Get the ultimate guide to payroll legislation\" loading=\"lazy\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-gb\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/10\/2019\/01\/PMARCHITECTS_BB_03_078_2018_32240-1213x810.jpg 1213w\" sizes=\"auto, (min-width: 48em) 33vw, 100vw\" \/>\t\t\t<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n<div class=\"single-cta\">\n\t<div class=\"single-cta__positioner\">\n\t\t<div class=\"single-cta__wrapper has-dark-background-color\">\n\t\t\t<div class=\"single-cta__content\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<h2 class=\"single-cta__title h3\">Subscribe to the Sage Advice newsletter<\/h2>\n\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"single-cta__description\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<p>Join more than 500,000 UK readers and get the best business admin strategies and tactics, as well as actionable advice to help your company thrive, in your inbox every month.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<a\n\t\t\t\t\t\thref=\"#gate-b1a63862-3fa0-4a5e-bb67-c76b88bbc6b8\"\n\t\t\t\t\t\tclass=\"single-cta__button button button--primary\"\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t>Subscribe now<\/a>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\n\t\t\t\t\t<img decoding=\"async\" width=\"1440\" height=\"810\" src=\"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-gb\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/10\/2022\/04\/GettyImages-1073797282-1-1440x810.jpg\" class=\"single-cta__image\" alt=\"\" loading=\"lazy\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-gb\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/10\/2022\/04\/GettyImages-1073797282-1-1440x810.jpg 1440w\" sizes=\"auto, (min-width: 48em) 33vw, 100vw\" \/>\t\t\t<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Real Time Information (RTI) is the most significant change ever made to PAYE. An improved way of reporting, RTI is designed to make PAYE submissions more efficient &#8211; meaning you&#8217;ll need to submit information to HMRC in real time, every time you pay employees. What is Real Time Information? Real Time Information doesn&#8217;t change the [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":282,"featured_media":1856,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_sage_video":false,"post_featured_image_hide":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[37,32],"business_type":[3],"lilypad":[],"context":[],"industry":[],"persona":[71,73,74],"imagine_tag":[92,103],"coauthors":[398],"class_list":["post-2234","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-strategy-legal-operations","tag-payroll","tag-rti","business_type-medium-sized-business"],"sage_meta":{"region":"en-gb","author_name":"Bryan Collins","featured_image":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-gb\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/10\/2017\/08\/WeddingFlowersForYou_GL_310813-2107.jpg","imagine_tags":{"92":"HR and Payroll","103":"Payroll software"}},"distributor_meta":false,"distributor_terms":false,"distributor_media":false,"distributor_original_site_name":"Sage Advice UK","distributor_original_site_url":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-gb\/blog","push-errors":false,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-gb\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2234","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-gb\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-gb\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-gb\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/users\/282"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-gb\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2234"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-gb\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2234\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-gb\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/media\/1856"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-gb\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2234"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-gb\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2234"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-gb\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2234"},{"taxonomy":"business_type","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-gb\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/business_type?post=2234"},{"taxonomy":"lilypad","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-gb\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/lilypad?post=2234"},{"taxonomy":"context","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-gb\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/context?post=2234"},{"taxonomy":"industry","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-gb\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/industry?post=2234"},{"taxonomy":"persona","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-gb\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/persona?post=2234"},{"taxonomy":"imagine_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-gb\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/imagine_tag?post=2234"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-gb\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/coauthors?post=2234"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}