Real Time Information - what is it?
by Startacus Admin
Real Time Information - what is it?
Here at Startacus we don’t like getting overly serious too often - after all there are plenty of other sites out there that dot the i’s and cross the t’s. However on this occasion we thought best to address the little beast that is Real Time Information. And before you all shout “what is that?”, you better start reading, as Real Time Information affects SME’s* based in the UK and their payrolling processes...
Since 1944 when the Pay as you Earn (PAYE) was first introduced (in the midst of the 2nd World War may we add - fairplay Government department!) there have been very few major changes to 
the processes applied to operate PAYE as a company.
However as of the 6th April (yes, it’s already kicked off!) your business* will need to submit PAYE information to HMRC every time you pay your employees. Hence the rather aptly named Real Time Information, or RTI for short, which is the new and improved system for reporting PAYE.
This will mean that as an employer - whether you do it directly via your accounts department, accountant, or online accountancy services...you will need to send HMRC information each time you pay an employee and will have to use payrolling software that will send all of this info to HMRC as part of the overall payroll process.
Now before you assume that you have plenty of time to get your house in order, HMRC has already set down the gauntlet by warning that non compliant businesses can expect to face fines if they ignore the changes.
*Notice the asterisks included in this article - we ain't no trained accountants! We are just the messengers after all! We have however found a few decent sites, links and a rather (albeit long) HMRC video to help you along the way.
Personally speaking, if you don’t use accountants, or online accountancy services the most obvious place for all the RTI information you require is the HMRC website itself. They also include a rather handy tick-box PDF which we have attached here.
We have also updated the Finance section of the Startacus toolkit to include the HMRC video on reporting PAYE in real time. Here’s the link.
The guys over at SAGE have produced a free white paper guide on RTI which you may also want to take a look at.
Also if you are starting to panic and would rather an accountant or online accountancy service dealth with all the detail, changes and small print, both SAGE and Crunch might be worth a look.
And if you need more info on tax basics for the self employed - check out this article on...Tax basics for the self employed!
So, good luck if the PAYE changes apply to you and your business and please feel free to comment via the forum with any feedback you have on the changes to date.
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Published on: 7th April 2013
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