HMRC has quietly published a swathe of situations where companies will be exempt from having to report PAYE data 'on or before' the time they pay staff and for numerous 'notional payments'.
It means they can legitimately avoid falling foul of the controversial Real-time information (RTI) programme - the biggest PAYE shake-up in over half a century - set to start in just six months' time.
It follows HMRC chief executive Lin Homer admitting to the Commons Treasury committee earlier this month, that 'there was no Plan B' should the new system keel over under the sheer weight of pressure on implementation.
The exceptions have been split into two types. The first centres on 'on or before' reporting of PAYE payments "which may cause difficulties in a small number of cases".
The second type is for 'notional payments', such as share-related payments and for payments by intermediaries of an employer or under non-UK employer rules.
Among the many individual exceptions cited by HMRC are "earnings and notional payments delivered by overseas employers for duties performed on assignment" and "employment income paid in respect of employment-related securities (such as on the exercise of share options).
Further exceptions include payments which vary according to the work done on the day, where it is impractical to report on or before. Examples cited include "where someone is employed to pick crops in a field and they are paid in cash based on the amount that they have picked. It also includes catering staff paid by the hour at the end of their shift".
Other scenarios include ad hoc payments made outside of the regular payroll, such as marginal items of pay for National Insurance purposes.
HMRC insists it will apply a "common sense approach" to late reporting.
The introduction of RTI has been mired in controversy since news of its introduction first surfaced.
A recent survey revealed that a quarter of all UK SMEs have not even heard of RTI, while a third are confused about how it will impact their business.
The findings, from the October 2012 Sage Omnibus survey of over 1,000 UK SMEs, showed one in 10 business (12%) expect RTI to have a negative impact and make it more difficult and time consuming to submit employee information to HMRC. And half (50%) of business owners don't know when the RTI changes will come into effect.
When introduced in April 2013, RTI will require employers to provide employee PAYE, National Insurance and student loan information to HMRC at point of payment every month, rather than just at year end.
Earlier this month, HMRC confirmed its RTI project was about to reach its next phase, with up to 250,000 employers set to join the pilot scheme before March 2013.
More details are available from HMRC HERE