{"id":4087,"date":"2018-03-24T16:13:01","date_gmt":"2018-03-24T16:13:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-gb\/blog\/glossary\/what-is-rti\/"},"modified":"2026-05-18T14:45:34","modified_gmt":"2026-05-18T13:45:34","slug":"what-is-rti","status":"publish","type":"sage_glossary","link":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-gb\/blog\/glossary\/what-is-rti\/","title":{"rendered":"What is RTI?"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n\t
\n\t\t
\n\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tGlossary definition<\/a>\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t

\n\t\t\t\t\t\tWhat is RTI?\t\t\t\t\t<\/h1>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\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\t
\n\t\t
\n\t\t\t min read<\/span>\n\t\t\n\t\t\t

RTI<\/a> or Real Time Information was introduced in April 2013. Under RTI, employers now need to send information to HMRC every time they pay their employees, rather than waiting until the end of the year.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

There are two types of submissions that you\u2019ll need to make: a Full Payment Submission (FPS<\/a>) and an Employer Payment Summary (EPS<\/a>).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Full Payment Submission<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

The main and most common submission type consisting of the employee payments and deductions that will be required each time an employer makes a payment to an employee.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

You will need to submit an FPS every time you make a payment to an employee. The submission must be made on or before the date the employee is paid.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

HMRC will use this submission to calculate how much PAYE and National Insurance contributions (NIC) liability is due from you each tax month.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Employer Payment Summary<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

This is only submitted where you need to advise HMRC of any alteration to this liability (such as where reclaiming statutory payments) or where you are informing them of a nil payment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

You should make this submission when or before the relevant monthly or quarterly liability payment is made to HMRC.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What you need to comply with RTI<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Outsourcing your payroll to an accountant or payroll service provider? You should ask them what they are going to do to help ensure your business is RTI compliant.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

If you use payroll software<\/a>, you should check with your software provider to understand how they are going to help you become RTI compliant.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

If you are using desktop software, it\u2019s likely you will be provided with a software update that you will need to install.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

However, if your business is using cloud-based payroll software<\/a>, your provider should be seamlessly and automatically enabling the software to make RTI returns.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Why the quality of your payroll data is critical for RTI<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Invest some time in carrying out an audit of your employees’ payroll data to ensure it’s accurate and up to date.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Under RTI<\/a>, the information you submit to HMRC every time you pay your employees is matched against records it stores.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

If the records you submit don\u2019t match, you may trigger creating duplicate or inaccurate records which may result in incorrect tax calculations or HMRC compliance checks.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Make sure you have the correct details for your employees, wherever possible check the information you need against an official document such as:<\/p>\n\n\n\n