PwC's latest RTI survey highlights need for support
Follow @PwC_NorthWe recently arranged a series of Real Time Information (RTI) seminars across the UK, with guest presenters from the RTI strategy and operations team at HM Revenue & Customs to understand the challenges RTI is presenting to organisations. The events were extremely popular with over 800 people attending. As you might expect there was a healthy debate about precisely what employers will need to do in order to meet the requirements posed by what is agreed to be the biggest change to payroll since the introduction of PAYE in 1944.
We asked attendees to complete a short survey on RTI. It was designed to provide an insight into their views as to what RTI will mean for them and the work that has been done to date in preparing for RTI. The survey revealed some interesting results which are outlined in the attached document, but the highlights include:
- A resounding 99% of respondents stated that they will need some level of support to ensure RTI compliance with more than 50% suggesting that they are expecting their payroll provider to provide support. Yet around 75% were unsure that their payroll provider had not finalised or were unclear whether their payroll provider had RTI compliant software available. With so many employers relying upon payroll provider as the first point of call with their RTI queries, we are concerned that there may be material capacity issues in the industry’s ability to support businesses come April 2013.
- As expected more than 50% of respondents with internationally mobile employees indicated that they were not comfortable that they understand the changes required under RTI in respect of internationally mobile employees given HMRC’s lack of clear guidance on this area initially.
- Almost 1 in 4 respondents mentioned the additional burden on their payroll function as their number one challenge or concern and with less than three months before the majority of employers go live, it is important that employers address their biggest challenges at the earliest opportunity.
The operational and system challenges that employers face in dealing with both RTI and Pension Auto Enrolment during 2013 should not be underestimated.
If you would like to discuss this in more detail and understand how other employers in the UK are planning to address the challenges posed by the implementation of RTI, please contact me or one of the RTI team members listed in the attached survey.
John Harding
0161 247 4542
john.l.harding@uk.pwc.com
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