Employer Payment Summary

This submission is used to reduce the charge calculated from the most recent FPS submission. It is also used to notify HMRC if no employees are paid in a pay period meaning Income Tax, NI, and other deductions such as student loans are not due. If this is your first EPS the year to date figures for any recovered payments for statutory payments, CIS Deductions and NICs Holiday in the current year are also included.

The year to-date recoverable amounts displayed on page two are derived from the Payroll - P32 Processing form. If you operate more than payroll company using the same Accounts Office reference, the EPS must be sent from the consolidation P32 company (defined in the P32 Co. Consolidation box on the Payroll - Utilities - Set Options form).

The EPS must be submitted before payment to HMRC is due on the 19th of the following tax month.

The Wizard

The Employer Payment Summary wizard is designed to enable the file for the submission to be quickly created before it is submitted to HMRC using Pegasus Online Filing Manager.

If you use more than one payroll group they are automatically selected because the EPS must include all information for the whole company. For this reason the wizard must be run from the same company that you generate your P32 values from.

First Page

The first page of the wizard includes initial choices for the submission, for example whether the EPS is a regular submission or the last one of the year.

Option	Description
Process	You can choose to only see a report without creating an EPS file or see a report and also create the file. You can choose the report destination from the Publisher form before the file is created. If you choose to create a file you will be asked to confirm this after you have started the wizard process.
EPS Details	There are three types of EPS: the 'Regular EPS' (for a normal tax month sent before payment to HMRC is due on the 19th of the following tax month) the 'Final EPS of the year'. Before sending the final EPS submission for the tax year you must make sure that all Full Payment Submissions for the tax year have been submitted. 'Scheme has ceased' (if you cease being an employer).
No Payments Due	Select if you have made no payments to employees or directors for an earlier period of one or more complete tax months, and so an FPS was not submitted. If no payments were made in a one or more complete tax months (so there was no FPS to submit) you must submit an EPS and indicate no payment is due and show dates in 'no payments due' fields. You must also select a date range for the relevant tax month using the From and To dates below.
Period of Inactivity	Select if you know that for one or more future tax months in the tax year you will not be paying any employees. The purpose of the EPS in this situation is to inform HMRC in advance that Employer Payment Summaries and Full Payment Submissions will not be submitted for the chosen period of time. In accordance with HMRC requirements, the first day of the period of inactivity must be the sixth day of the respective month - the first day in a tax month. You can enter a date range of up to 12 months.

Option

Description

Process

You can choose to only see a report without creating an EPS file or see a report and also create the file. You can choose the report destination from the Publisher form before the file is created.

If you choose to create a file you will be asked to confirm this after you have started the wizard process.

EPS Details

There are three types of EPS:

the 'Regular EPS' (for a normal tax month sent before payment to HMRC is due on the 19th of the following tax month)
the 'Final EPS of the year'. Before sending the final EPS submission for the tax year you must make sure that all Full Payment Submissions for the tax year have been submitted.
'Scheme has ceased' (if you cease being an employer).

No Payments Due

Select if you have made no payments to employees or directors for an earlier period of one or more complete tax months, and so an FPS was not submitted. If no payments were made in a one or more complete tax months (so there was no FPS to submit) you must submit an EPS and indicate no payment is due and show dates in 'no payments due' fields.

You must also select a date range for the relevant tax month using the From and To dates below.

Period of Inactivity

Select if you know that for one or more future tax months in the tax year you will not be paying any employees. The purpose of the EPS in this situation is to inform HMRC in advance that Employer Payment Summaries and Full Payment Submissions will not be submitted for the chosen period of time. In accordance with HMRC requirements, the first day of the period of inactivity must be the sixth day of the respective month - the first day in a tax month. You can enter a date range of up to 12 months.

Second Page

The second page is where you enter the recovered amounts for the tax month, bank account details, and indicate whether the Employment Allowance is being claimed or ceased (from 6 April 2014).

Option	Description
Up to Tax Month	Select the month that the Employer Payment Summary is being submitted for. This will default to the latest month in Payroll. If you pay HMRC quarterly rather than monthly (and the P32 Payment Frequency option on the Payroll - Utilities - Set Options form is set to 'Quarterly') then the quarter number is displayed in the list where appropriate.
Recovered amounts	Enter the recoverable amounts for Statutory Payments, National Insurance contributions (the figures that are displayed initially are taken from the updated figures on the Payroll - P32 Processing form but you can change them if required). You need to enter CIS Deductions Suffered if necessary - this amount is not derived from the P32 Processing form.
Allocate the EPS credit ... against tax month x	When this box is selected the recoverable amounts are allocated against the month in the Up to Tax Month box. When this box is cleared the tax month that the recoverable amounts are allocated to depends on the submission date. This flowchart illustrates the tax month that recoverable amounts are allocated against, depending on whether this option is used or when the EPS is submitted.
Bank Account Details	Enter bank details to which refunds will be sent by HMRC if relevant. This information need only be provided once but can also be included each time an EPS is submitted.
Employment Allowance
The Employment Allowance is currently claimed by employers to reduce their employers secondary Class 1 NICs bill by up to £4,000. From 6 April 2020, extra checks are needed to ascertain eligibility. Employers can claim the allowance if their secondary Class 1 NICs liability was less than £100,000 in the prior tax year. Employers whose secondary Class 1 NICs liability was £100,000 or more will not be eligible to claim the allowance. Because of the change, the Employment Allowance is considered to be a type of de minimis State aid because it advantages some businesses over others, which could potentially distort competition and trade within the European Union. This will not apply if the business does not engage in economic activity by putting goods or services on the market. Businesses must ensure that the £4,000 allowance when added to other de minimis State aid received or allocated in the claim year plus the previous two tax years does not exceed the de minimis State aid threshold for the trade sector. Employers need to reapply for the de minimis State aid Employment Allowance at the start of each tax year. HMRC will be responsible for ensuring compliance with the de minimis State aid rules. You should record the employment allowance that you claim on the Payroll - P32 Processing - Employment Allowance form. It will then be deducted from the total amount shown to be paid to HMRC.
The Employer Payment Summary (EPS) is used to claim the Employment Allowance. One of these options on the EPS screen in Payroll must be selected: Can't claim Stop claiming Starting to claim or already claiming for 2021-22. The trade sector that the de minimis State aid applies to must also be selected (Industrial, Road Transport, Agriculture, Fisheries and aquaculture). Trade sectors have different de minimis State aid thresholds. An employer can only claim the Employment Allowance if they have at least £4,000 of their de minimis State aid limit for their trade sector remaining. HMRC will offset the allowance claimed against the Employer Class 1 NICs due. Employers must reduce their payment by the amount of allowance they are claiming. Employers need to reapply for the de minimis State aid Employment Allowance at the start of each year. The State aid rules don't apply option must be selected if state aid rules are not relevant to the business.
Select one of the following options for the Employment Allowance.
Can't claim	Select this option to signify to HMRC that the Employment Allowance can't be claimed by the company.
Stop claiming	Select this option to signify to HMRC that the company was claiming the allowance but it will no longer be claimed because the business is no longer eligible. Stopping your claim means that no allowance is due, and you must pay all Class 1 NICs as a result. Important: 1. Do not select ‘Stop claiming’ to indicate that you have claimed the full allowance for the tax year. 2. Do not select ‘Stop claiming’ to indicate that you are no longer employing anyone.
Starting to claim or already claiming	Select this option to indicate to HMRC that the Employment Allowance is being claimed for the 2021-22 tax year. Even if an EPS to HMRC has never been sent to HMRC other than for the final tax month in a tax year, one must be sent to indicate the intention to claim the allowance. Otherwise, HMRC will assume the employer has underpaid their NICs.
Trade sector for de minimis state aid and amount of aid	Select a trade sector and enter the relevant de minimis State aid threshold for the trade sector. The de minimis State aid thresholds for a trade sector are calculated in Euros so the amount of aid received in the previous years and the maximum allowance for the 2021-22 tax year will need to be converted into Euros using the EU exchange rate published on 1 April.
Trade sector for de minimis state aid	Select the relevant trade sector for de minimis State aid.
State aid rules don't apply	Select if State aid rules don't apply to the business.

Option

Description

Up to Tax Month

Select the month that the Employer Payment Summary is being submitted for. This will default to the latest month in Payroll. If you pay HMRC quarterly rather than monthly (and the P32 Payment Frequency option on the Payroll - Utilities - Set Options form is set to 'Quarterly') then the quarter number is displayed in the list where appropriate.

Recovered amounts

Enter the recoverable amounts for Statutory Payments, National Insurance contributions (the figures that are displayed initially are taken from the updated figures on the Payroll - P32 Processing form but you can change them if required).

You need to enter CIS Deductions Suffered if necessary - this amount is not derived from the P32 Processing form.

Allocate the EPS credit ... against tax month x

When this box is selected the recoverable amounts are allocated against the month in the Up to Tax Month box. When this box is cleared the tax month that the recoverable amounts are allocated to depends on the submission date.

This flowchart illustrates the tax month that recoverable amounts are allocated against, depending on whether this option is used or when the EPS is submitted.

Bank Account Details

Enter bank details to which refunds will be sent by HMRC if relevant. This information need only be provided once but can also be included each time an EPS is submitted.

Employment Allowance

The Employment Allowance is currently claimed by employers to reduce their employers secondary Class 1 NICs bill by up to £4,000.

From 6 April 2020, extra checks are needed to ascertain eligibility. Employers can claim the allowance if their secondary Class 1 NICs liability was less than £100,000 in the prior tax year. Employers whose secondary Class 1 NICs liability was £100,000 or more will not be eligible to claim the allowance.

Because of the change, the Employment Allowance is considered to be a type of de minimis State aid because it advantages some businesses over others, which could potentially distort competition and trade within the European Union. This will not apply if the business does not engage in economic activity by putting goods or services on the market.

Businesses must ensure that the £4,000 allowance when added to other de minimis State aid received or allocated in the claim year plus the previous two tax years does not exceed the de minimis State aid threshold for the trade sector.

Employers need to reapply for the de minimis State aid Employment Allowance at the start of each tax year.

HMRC will be responsible for ensuring compliance with the de minimis State aid rules.

You should record the employment allowance that you claim on the Payroll - P32 Processing - Employment Allowance form. It will then be deducted from the total amount shown to be paid to HMRC.

The Employer Payment Summary (EPS) is used to claim the Employment Allowance.

One of these options on the EPS screen in Payroll must be selected:

Can't claim
Stop claiming
Starting to claim or already claiming for 2021-22.

The trade sector that the de minimis State aid applies to must also be selected (Industrial, Road Transport, Agriculture, Fisheries and aquaculture).

Trade sectors have different de minimis State aid thresholds. An employer can only claim the Employment Allowance if they have at least £4,000 of their de minimis State aid limit for their trade sector remaining. HMRC will offset the allowance claimed against the Employer Class 1 NICs due. Employers must reduce their payment by the amount of allowance they are claiming.

Employers need to reapply for the de minimis State aid Employment Allowance at the start of each year.

The State aid rules don't apply option must be selected if state aid rules are not relevant to the business.

Select one of the following options for the Employment Allowance.

Can't claim

Select this option to signify to HMRC that the Employment Allowance can't be claimed by the company.

Stop claiming

Select this option to signify to HMRC that the company was claiming the allowance but it will no longer be claimed because the business is no longer eligible. Stopping your claim means that no allowance is due, and you must pay all Class 1 NICs as a result.

Important:

1. Do not select ‘Stop claiming’ to indicate that you have claimed the full allowance for the tax year.
2. Do not select ‘Stop claiming’ to indicate that you are no longer employing anyone.

Starting to claim or already claiming

Select this option to indicate to HMRC that the Employment Allowance is being claimed for the 2021-22 tax year.

Even if an EPS to HMRC has never been sent to HMRC other than for the final tax month in a tax year, one must be sent to indicate the intention to claim the allowance. Otherwise, HMRC will assume the employer has underpaid their NICs.

Trade sector for de minimis state aid and amount of aid

Select a trade sector and enter the relevant de minimis State aid threshold for the trade sector.

The de minimis State aid thresholds for a trade sector are calculated in Euros so the amount of aid received in the previous years and the maximum allowance for the 2021-22 tax year will need to be converted into Euros using the EU exchange rate published on 1 April.

Trade sector for de minimis state aid

Select the relevant trade sector for de minimis State aid.

State aid rules don't apply

Select if State aid rules don't apply to the business.