An employer payment summary, known as an EPS, is a form employers submit to HMRC to send adjustments to their national insurance liability. The form is used in the UK in addition to the full payment submission, or FPS, which includes the overall payments and deductions made to employees throughout the tax year.
When do you submit an EPS?
Unlike an FPS, which needs to be submitted regularly without exception, an EPS only needs to be submitted in case of any of the conditions below:
- Apprentice levy
- Statutory payments
- CIS deductions suffered
- If employees haven’t been paid within the tax month (e.g., if the business has been temporarily closed or if it operates on a seasonal basis)
- If employees aren’t going to be paid in future months
With that being said, for auditing reasons and as a way to tick all the boxes, it’s considered best practice to submit an EPS even if there is technically nothing to report.
An EPS is submitted according to the company’s payroll cycle – so if an employee receives his salary on a weekly basis, an EPS can be submitted weekly.
Similar concepts to EPS around the world
While the idea behind EPS is more specific to the UK, other countries have their own processes for reporting payroll taxes
- In the US, employers are required to submit Form 941 to report on payroll taxes. These need to be submitted to the IRS every quarter and include details on things like social security tax, federal tax, and Medicare tax.
- In Australia, employers need to report on taxes using the Single Touch Payroll System. Through the system, employers must report on all payments made to the employee. The reports make their way to the Australian Taxation Office.
- In Canada, employers need to report on payments to employees using the Payroll Deductions Online Calculator and Payroll Deductions Tables.
Payroll reporting for a global workforce
Since every country has its own regulations, processes and deadlines regarding global payroll reporting will vary. Organizations managing global workforces need to ensure they’re staying on top of these differences.
A global payment distribution platform can help with payroll reporting by streamlining the process and providing services like compliance expertise and currency conversion.
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