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Employers, changes are coming. Are you ready?

PAYE Modernisation
From 1 January 2019 Real Time Reporting for PAYE means that employers will need to calculate and report their employees pay and deductions to Revenue on or before the date the employees are paid. The “date paid” is defined as the date in which the funds are made available to employees.
If you pay the employee by:
- Cash – it is the date the cash is given to the employee
- Cheque – it will be the date on the cheque
- Bank Transfer – it is the date on which the funds are scheduled to be made available in the individual’s bank account.
EMPLOYERS
What employers are affected?
The simple answer is all.
Whether you employ 1 or 100 staff anyone who is registered with Revenue as an employer will be impacted to some extent.
So what will it actually mean for employers?
Currently employers make their PAYE returns to Revenue monthly, quarterly, bi-annually and/or at year end (using the current P30/P35 forms). From 1st of January Revenue must receive payroll information in “real time”. This means that employers must submit an electronic return as part of each and every pay run, reporting and declaring “on or before each pay date”, so weekly if you pay weekly, fortnightly if you pay every fortnight monthly etc.
Importantly, each submission is a declaration by the employer of a true and accurate reporting of the payroll. And whilst the reporting dates are changed to align with the payroll dates, the dates for making the actual payments of PAYE, PRSI & USC to Revenue do not change, at least for now.
What are the penalties for non-compliant employers?
These changes are mandatory and, whilst some grace may be given at the start, Revenue will penalise employers for non-compliance: penalties of up to €4,000 for failure to properly operate the PAYE system and interest on late payments.
And remember, with all payroll data being fed electronically to Revenue, their system will be able to easily monitor compliance and identify risks.
Undoubtedly there will be much more targeted Revenue enquiries and audits, with the associated stress and costs, for employers failing to fully comply.
What should employers do to get ready?
Review the Do’s & Don’ts checklist and your current payroll process.
Why not avail of a complimentary no obligation 30 minute PAYE and Payroll Review with one of our in-house payroll experts? This review will look at your current payroll process and help you assess what changes you need to make to ensure compliance with the new requirements.
We can also offer the alternative of a fully outsourced payroll service which we currently provide to many of our clients.
Do’s
Ensure you are registered with Revenue as an employer
Encourage all employees to set up their "MyAccount" with Revenue
Check you have an up-to-date Tax Credit Certificate for each employees
Accurately calculate Benefit in Kind and Employee Entitlements
Ensure you have compliant Payroll software or employ a Payroll Bureau Service
Ensure all active employees are registered with Revenue as your employees
Ensure you have the correct PPS number for each employee
Ensure you have issued a P45 for anyone who no longer works for you
All Payroll must be paid in real time and submission made to Revenue on or before making payment
If you are processing Payroll yourself, please ensure you have a valid ROS cert on the same PC as your Payroll software
Don’ts
Don't enter into net pay arrangements with employees
Dont forget the end of year P35 "tidy up" - from 1st January 2019 will no longer be possible
Don't file incomplete, inaccurate or late returns as these may result in interest, penalties and/ or a potential audit
EMPLOYEES
What does PAYE Modernisation mean for you?
Per Revenue from 1st January 2019 you will be able to login into your myAccount service and view your real-time payroll information as submitted to Revenue by your employer.
What is myAccount?
In case you are not aware the myAccount is a secure online system for accessing Revenue services.
PAYE taxpayers can use their myAccount service to access PAYE Online Services and the Jobs and Pensions service from Revenue.
So if you are a PAYE taxpayer and you haven’t already done so, you will need to register for myAccount – follow the link on www.revenue.ie – top right hand side of the screen.
How do I register?
To register you will need the following information:
- PPS number
- Date of Birth
- Mobile number or landline number
- Email address
- Home address
Once you have access you will be able to:
- See the payroll information submitted by your employer(s)
- Allocate credits and cut-offs between multiple employments (if you have two or more jobs) and between husband and wife
- Check whether you are claiming all your entitlements:
- Tax credits
- Standard rate cut off
- USC exemption (if your earnings are below €13,000pa)
- Flat rate expenses
- Health/dental expenses
- Check whether you are paying the correct taxes
- Print your own Certificate of Earnings & Deductions at year end (replaces the current P60)
If you need help getting registered, are having difficulties understanding or using myAccount, you can contact our payroll team who offer an employee myAccount consultation which will walk you through registration and operation of the system.
Call 0749321420 or email info@mlmg.ie to organise an appointment.