HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) has published a report into the findings from analysis of disputed pay-as-you-earn (PAYE) charges associated with real-time information reporting.
It had received feedback that some PAYE schemes have experienced difficulties in reconciling the difference between the tax HMRC says is due and the tax the employer thinks is due.
HMRC set up a team to identify the cause of these discrepancies, which undertook analysis between July and September 2013.
A statement from HMRC said: “The roll-out of real-time information (RTI) continues to go well. More than 1.66 million PAYE schemes have successfully started to report in real time. This represents more than 88% of PAYE schemes and is at the top end of our expectations.
“More than 44 million individual PAYE records are now being reported in real time, representing over 90% of all employments.
“As expected with such a major change, there have been some issues, which have impacted a small proportion of employers, but most have been resolved quickly.
“Some PAYE schemes are experiencing difficulties in reconciling the difference between the tax HMRC said was due, and the tax the employer thinks was due. The number of disputed charges is relatively small, affecting less than 1% of employers.
“The number of queries being raised has reduced significantly recently. This is in line with experience gained from the RTI pilot of issues reducing as employers get used to the new way of reporting.
“Our analysis shows that there is no evidence at all of HMRC IT systems incorrectly calculating the charge and that the majority of discrepancies were due to employer misunderstanding or error as they get used to the new system.
“HMRC will continue to monitor cases. This will ensure HMRC has seen the full range of issues that may arise over the course of time.”
