Tell HMRC no payment is due (NIL return)

Overview #

Follow this guide if you have periods where you pay no employees. This is also known as a NIL return.

HMRC checks each tax period for a submission. If there is none, HMRC sends a notice automatically. Tell HMRC when you pay no employees.

Full Payment Submission (FPS) #

If you pay at least one employee in a tax month, the FPS tells HMRC. You do not need to do more.

Employer Payment Summary (EPS) #

If you pay no employees and no FPS is due, tell HMRC with the EPS. HMRC explains this in Tell HMRC no payment is due.

To set the EPS:

1. Choose Setup > Report Definitions > GB RTI EPS.
2. Use one of the two options below, for the past or the future.
3. Click Update to keep the settings.
4. In Pay runs, click Redo on the pay run.

Past: No payment dates #

Use this option for tax months that have ended, in which you paid no employees. Give the start of the first tax month and the end of the last tax month:

• In No payment dates from, give the 6th of a month in this tax year.
• In No payment dates to, give the 5th of a month.

Do not give a date after the tax month of your earliest pay schedule. This is the pay schedule with the earliest next pay day.

Future: Period of inactivity #

Use this option to tell HMRC about tax months to come. Give the number of tax months, from 1 to 12. The period starts at the end of the current tax month.

Check the EPS #

To see what the EPS sends to HMRC:

1. In Pay runs, click View on the pay run.
2. Choose Reports > GB RTI EPS > View.
3. Look at the Summary. It shows the tax months of no payment.

CIS 300 #

paiyroll® sends the CIS 300 as part of the monthly pay run. It makes the return from the CIS subcontractors in that pay run.

• If you have subcontractors but pay none of them in a month, paiyroll® sends a NIL return automatically.
• If you have no subcontractors in paiyroll® yet, there is nothing to make the return from. Nothing goes to HMRC. File the NIL return yourself on HMRC's CIS online service. Sign in with your Government Gateway account.

To add a subcontractor, tick CIS in their tax details and give them a CIS pay item. Each monthly pay run then sends the CIS 300. This includes a NIL return for each month in which you pay no subcontractors.

If you will pay no subcontractors for some time, tell HMRC that you have stopped using them. You then do not send NIL returns until you start again.

More information #

The rules change each year. Search the web for "HMRC RTI Data Items guide", and read Data Items 136 and 137.