RTI explained: FPS vs EPS
Every UK pay run ends with a submission to HMRC. Here's what the two submission types actually do, when they're due, and the habits that keep you penalty-free — in plain English.
The two submissions, side by side
| FPS — Full Payment Submission | EPS — Employer Payment Summary | |
|---|---|---|
| What it reports | What each employee was paid — pay, tax, NI, deductions | Adjustments to what you owe HMRC as an employer |
| When it goes | On or before every payday | By the 19th of the following tax month, when needed |
| Always required? | Yes — every pay run | Only when reclaiming, adjusting, or reporting a no-payment period |
| Typical contents | Employee pay + YTD figures, starter and leaver details, tax codes, student loans | Statutory pay recovery (SMP/SPP/SAP…), Employment Allowance, Apprenticeship Levy, nil returns |
| Who it’s about | Your employees, person by person | Your PAYE scheme as a whole |
Payment of what you owe follows separately — electronically by the 22nd of the following tax month. Penalty amounts change; check GOV.UK for current figures.
A payroll month under RTI
1 · Payday
Run payroll, pay your people, and send the FPS on or before the money lands. Starters and leavers ride along in the same file.
2 · By the 19th
If you’re reclaiming statutory pay, using the Employment Allowance, or paid nobody — send the EPS for the tax month just ended.
3 · By the 22nd
Pay HMRC what the FPS minus the EPS says you owe (electronic payment deadline; the 19th if you still pay by post).
RTI questions, answered plainly
What is RTI in payroll?
Real Time Information is how UK employers report PAYE to HMRC: instead of one annual return, you submit data every time you pay people. It has been mandatory for almost all employers since 2013. The two submission types are the FPS (Full Payment Submission) and the EPS (Employer Payment Summary).
What is the difference between an FPS and an EPS?
The FPS reports what you paid your people — sent on or before each payday, it carries each employee’s pay, tax, National Insurance, student loan deductions, and starter/leaver information. The EPS adjusts what you owe HMRC — sent monthly when needed, it reclaims statutory payments (SMP, SPP and similar), reports the Employment Allowance and Apprenticeship Levy, or tells HMRC no one was paid that period.
When is the FPS due?
On or before payday — the date employees actually get the money. Late FPS submissions attract monthly penalties that scale with headcount, so “file it with the pay run” is the only safe habit. New employers get limited grace, and there are narrow exceptions for genuinely late-notified payments.
When is the EPS due?
By the 19th of the following tax month (tax months run from the 6th to the 5th). If you have nothing to recover or adjust in a month, you usually don’t need to send one — unless you paid nobody at all, in which case a nil-payment EPS avoids HMRC estimating a liability and chasing it.
How do starters and leavers work under RTI?
There are no separate starter or leaver forms to send: starter details (from the P45 or starter checklist) and leaving dates travel inside the FPS. You still give a leaver their P45, but HMRC learns about it through the payroll submission itself.
What happens at year-end under RTI?
The old P35 annual return is long gone. You mark your final submission of the tax year (FPS or EPS) with a “final submission” indicator, give employees their P60s by 31 May, and file P11Ds for benefits in kind by 6 July unless you payroll benefits.
Plain-English guidance, not tax advice. Current rates and thresholds live on our statutory rates 2026/27 page.
Or let the pay run file it for you.
Blankitt HR generates the FPS and EPS from the pay run itself — RTI built in, HMRC recognition in progress, and we're honest about exactly where that stands.