The first 2014-15 non-filing notices relating to month 1 will be sent shortly to employers who have not sent the number of Full Payment submissions (FPSs) that HMRC is expecting within a tax month; or an Employer Payment Summary (EPS) to tell HMRC that no payments have been made for that tax month. The text for this message has been revised following feedback from stakeholders.

HMRC will be carrying out initial testing before releasing the non-filing message for month 1, so there may be a short delay in issuing these notices, by which time some employers may have already complied with the filing requirements. Employers do not need to contact HMRC in such instances.

Although employers have until the 19th of the following tax month to send an EPS to make a nil payment submission, HMRC will issue non-filing GNS messages shortly after the end of each tax month to prompt employers to make a submission in time to avoid a specified charge and, in future, a potential in-year filing penalty.

It is worth noting that HMRC says that a GNS message is not a penalty notification, but a service message to help employers put processes in place to make sure they report and pay their PAYE obligations on time before automatic late filing penalties start on 6 October 2014.

Employers may receive both a late filing and a non-filing GNS message relating to the same month. Employers who receive either message should use it as a prompt to ensure that their business is ready to submit their PAYE returns on time from 6 October 2014, when in-year penalties for failure to report PAYE on time will be introduced.

Those who have received a late payment GNS will not get an automatic penalty for 2014–15, but they may do if they continue to pay late next year. In 2014–15, HMRC will be issuing penalties only in respect of the most persistent and serious payment failures.

More details are available at http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/news/elec-msg-update.htm