Automatic cancellation of an employer PAYE scheme
From 28 October 2013 HMRC will begin issuing letters to employers to cancel PAYE schemes where there has been no activity for the past 120 days. The letters are generated following an automated review of HMRC’s records.
The following are some of the reasons why a letter may be received:
- No submissions have been made using PAYE in Real Time.
- No payments have been made to HMRC.
- The employer is not an annual payer.
- There is no evidence that there are any employees.
- There is no evidence that Class 1A NIC is due.
The letter includes instructions explaining how employers, whose schemes shouldn’t have been cancelled, can contact HMRC to have the scheme reopened.
Commenting on the move, HMRC’s Director General for Personal Tax, Ruth Owen, said:‘Closing schemes that are no longer needed is really important for businesses and for HMRC as it means that HMRC won’t waste employers’ taxpayers’ time and money by needlessly pursuing returns or debts when in fact none are due.’