Guidance For Employers On Reporting PAYE Information In Real Time When Payments Are Made Early At Christmas

20th October 2022

In 2019 HMRC introduced a permanent easement on reporting PAYE information in real time. HMRC are aware some employers pay their employees earlier than usual over the Christmas period. This can be for a number of reasons. For example, during the Christmas period the business may close, meaning workers need to be paid earlier than normal.

If you do pay early over the Christmas period, report your normal (or contractual) payday as the payment date on your Full Payment Submission (FPS) and make sure that the FPS is submitted on or before this date.

For example, if you pay on Friday 16 December 2022, but the normal (or contractual) payment date is Friday 30 December 2022, report the payment date on the FPS as 30 December and make sure the submission is sent on or before 30 December.

Doing this will help to protect your employees' eligibility for Universal Credit, as reporting the payday as the payment date may affect current and future entitlements.

The overriding PAYE reporting obligation for employers is unaffected by this announcement and remains that you must report payments on or before the date the employee is paid, that is their payday.