Employer Payment Summary (EPS): When you need one and what it covers

Running payroll means sending more than one type of information to HMRC.

You may already be familiar with the Full Payment Submission (FPS). It's the report you send to HMRC when you pay your employees, telling them about their pay and deductions.

But what happens when you need to tell HMRC something about your employer's side of payroll instead?

That's where the Employer Payment Summary (EPS) comes in.

An EPS is an HMRC payroll submission that employers use to report certain information that affects the amount they owe HMRC. You may need one to claim back certain statutory payments, claim Employment Allowance, report Apprenticeship Levy, or tell HMRC that you haven't paid any employees during a tax month. It works alongside the FPS rather than replacing it in most situations.

So, when do you actually need to send an EPS? What information goes into it? And what happens if you don't? Let's take a closer look.

What is an Employer Payment Summary?

An Employer Payment Summary (EPS) is a payroll report that employers send to HMRC through Real Time Information (RTI) when they need to provide information that isn't included in their regular FPS or when certain adjustments need to be made to their PAYE liability.

While an FPS primarily reports what you paid your employees, an EPS tells HMRC about certain employer-level information that can reduce or otherwise affect what you need to pay HMRC.

For example, imagine you've paid employees as usual this month and submitted your FPS. You also paid Statutory Maternity Pay (SMP) and are eligible to reclaim part of it.

The FPS tells HMRC about the employee's pay and statutory payment. The EPS tells HMRC about the amount you're reclaiming, so it can be taken into account when working out your PAYE bill.

That's the easiest way to think about the two.

An EPS isn't something you automatically send after every payroll run. Whether you need one depends on what happened during that tax month.

When do you need to submit an EPS?

There are several situations where HMRC requires or allows you to send an EPS. The most common ones are:

• You haven't paid any employees during a tax month

• You need to reclaim certain statutory payments

• You want to claim Employment Allowance

• You need to report Apprenticeship Levy

• You need to report certain Construction Industry Scheme deductions

• You need to send certain year-end information

• You need to make or correct certain reductions to the amount you owe HMRC

Let's look at each one.

 1. You haven't paid any employees during a tax month   

This is one of the most important reasons to understand EPS.

Your PAYE tax month runs from the 6th of one month to the 5th of the following month. If you don't pay any employees during that entire tax month, you need to tell HMRC.

You do this by submitting an EPS rather than an FPS for that period.

For example, suppose your business normally pays employees monthly but doesn't make any payments between 6 August and 5 September.

You won't have an FPS to send because you haven't paid anyone. You should send an EPS to tell HMRC that there were no payments for that tax month. You can also tell HMRC in advance if you know you won't be paying employees for between one and 12 months.

Why does this matter?  

HMRC needs to know that a month with no payroll activity is intentional.

If you don't tell HMRC, it may assume that you have failed to report your payroll and issue a notice estimating what you owe. This can result in an unnecessary PAYE bill and potentially a penalty.

So if your business temporarily stops paying employees, don't simply skip the payroll submission. Tell HMRC through an EPS.

 2. You're reclaiming statutory payments   

Statutory payments can reduce the amount you need to pay HMRC. These can include:

• Statutory Maternity Pay (SMP)

• Statutory Paternity Pay (SPP)

• Statutory Adoption Pay (SAP)

• Statutory Shared Parental Pay (ShPP)

• Statutory Parental Bereavement Pay (SPBP)

• Statutory Neonatal Care Pay (SNCP)

If you pay eligible statutory payments and are entitled to reclaim amounts from HMRC, you use an EPS to report the amount you're reclaiming.

For most statutory payments, employers can generally recover 92% of the amount paid. Eligible small employers may be able to recover 109% through Small Employers' Relief. The important part is how this affects your PAYE bill.

You don't simply receive the money back as a separate payment from HMRC. Instead, the amount you're entitled to recover is taken into account when working out how much you need to pay HMRC.

For example  

Imagine you've paid £1,000 in eligible statutory payments during the tax month.

You report the relevant payroll information through your FPS, and then use your EPS to tell HMRC about the amount you're reclaiming. The recoverable amount can then reduce the PAYE liability you need to pay to HMRC for that period.

This is one reason it's important to submit the EPS on time. If HMRC doesn't receive it in time to apply the reduction for that period, you may have to pay the full amount shown on your FPS and have the adjustment applied later.

 3. You're claiming Employment Allowance   

If your business is eligible for Employment Allowance, you can use an EPS to claim it.

Employment Allowance reduces the amount of employer Class 1 National Insurance contributions you need to pay. For 2026/27, the allowance is £10,500 for eligible employers.

This can make a meaningful difference to smaller employers, which is why it's worth checking whether your business qualifies rather than assuming you need to pay the full employer National Insurance liability.

 4. You need to report Apprenticeship Levy   

The EPS also has a role to play if your business is liable for the Apprenticeship Levy.

You generally need to pay the levy if your annual pay bill is more than £3 million, or if you're connected to other companies or charities and their combined annual pay bill exceeds £3 million. The levy is charged at 0.5% of the annual pay bill, subject to the available allowance.

If you're liable, you report the Apprenticeship Levy each month through an EPS.

For 2026/27, employers have an annual Apprenticeship Levy allowance of £15,000. 

 5. You're reclaiming Construction Industry Scheme deductions   

If your business is a limited company operating under the Construction Industry Scheme (CIS) and has suffered CIS deductions, you can use an EPS to reclaim those deductions.

This is separate from the CIS monthly return itself. The CIS return reports payments made to subcontractors, while the EPS can be used to tell HMRC about CIS deductions you've suffered and want to reclaim.

If you're not a limited company, this particular EPS provision won't apply to you.

 6. You're sending certain year-end information   

The EPS can also come into play at the end of the tax year.

In most cases, you'll mark your final FPS as the final submission for the tax year. But there are situations where an EPS needs to be used instead. For example, HMRC says you should send a final EPS if:

• You forgot to mark your last FPS as the final submission

• Your payroll software doesn't have a final-submission field on the FPS

• You didn't pay anyone in the final pay period of the tax year (GOV.UK)

This means the EPS isn't only a monthly adjustment report. It can also be part of closing your payroll records for the tax year.

What does an EPS actually cover?

An EPS can contain different information depending on why you're submitting it.

EPS vs FPS: What's the difference?

This is probably the most common point of confusion. Both submissions are part of HMRC's RTI system, but they serve different purposes.

Think of an FPS as the employee-facing side of your payroll report and an EPS as the employer-side adjustment report.

Full Payment Submission (FPS)  

You generally send an FPS every time you pay your employees. It includes information such as:

• Employee pay

• Income Tax deductions

• National Insurance contributions

• Student loan deductions

• Other payroll information HMRC requires

The FPS must generally be submitted on or before payday.

Employer Payment Summary (EPS)  

You send an EPS when you have additional information to report that affects your PAYE liability or when you need to tell HMRC that you haven't paid employees during a tax month.

An EPS can cover things such as:

• Statutory payment recovery

• Employment Allowance

• Apprenticeship Levy

• CIS deductions

• No payments made during a tax month

• Certain year-end information

And sometimes you'll need both.

For example, if you pay employees during the month and also reclaim Statutory Maternity Pay, you'll send your usual FPS and an EPS containing the relevant recovery information.

Here's the difference at a glance  

When is an EPS due?

For most EPS submissions, the deadline is the 19th of the following tax month.

If your tax month runs from 6 August to 5 September, your EPS for that period should generally reach HMRC by 19 September.

This is different from your FPS deadline. Your FPS is generally due on or before payday.

 EPS deadlines at a glance   

The Apprenticeship Levy has a specific reporting requirement: employers liable for the levy must report it monthly on the EPS within 14 days after the end of each tax month.

What happens if you don't send an EPS?

If you haven't paid employees for an entire tax month and don't tell HMRC, HMRC may assume that you've failed to report your payroll information and issue a notice estimating what you owe. You could then have to correct the situation and may face a penalty.

If you're using an EPS to claim a reduction, such as statutory payment recovery, failing to submit it means HMRC won't have the information it needs to apply that reduction for the relevant period. You may therefore need to pay the full amount shown by your FPS and have the adjustment applied late

If something has changed the amount you owe HMRC, check whether an EPS is the submission you need.

What happens after you submit an EPS?

Once HMRC receives your EPS, it uses the information alongside your FPS submissions to work out your PAYE liability.

Your payroll software should help you keep track of the relevant amounts and submissions rather than making you work out the adjustment separately.

It's also worth checking that your submission has been accepted. Keeping a record of the submission and HMRC's response can help if you need to investigate a discrepancy later.

What if you make a mistake on an EPS?

Mistakes happen. Perhaps you entered the wrong recoverable statutory payment amount, claimed an allowance incorrectly, or need to amend information you've already sent. The important thing is not to ignore it.

HMRC's Basic PAYE Tools guidance allows employers to change recoverable amounts on an EPS and send the updated submission. The exact correction process can depend on what you got wrong and which payroll software you're using.

If you're correcting an EPS, check the relevant HMRC guidance and your payroll software's correction process rather than simply sending another submission and assuming it will overwrite the original.

How does an EPS fit into your monthly payroll process?

A typical payroll month might look like this:

1. Run payroll
Calculate employee pay, deductions, and statutory payments.

2. Send the FPS
Report employee payments and deductions to HMRC on or before payday.

3. Check whether an EPS is needed
Look for statutory payment recoveries, Employment Allowance claims, no employee payments, Apprenticeship Levy, CIS deductions, or other applicable information.

4. Send the EPS
Submit it by the relevant deadline.

5. Work out your PAYE liability
Take the information from your FPS and any applicable EPS adjustments into account.

6. Pay HMRC
For most employers paying monthly, the PAYE bill is due by the 22nd of the following tax month when paying electronically

How can payroll software simplify EPS submissions?

EPS is one of those payroll tasks where the information you need to submit depends on what happened during the tax period.

That's why payroll software can help bring the different pieces together.

With Zoho Payroll, you can manage your UK payroll, maintain employee and payroll records, and handle HMRC-related payroll reporting from one place. The system can help automatically generate EPS and helps you to complete your statutory reporting.

Instead of keeping separate spreadsheets for statutory payments, payroll adjustments, and submission information, you can keep the payroll process connected with Zoho Payroll UK.

A simple EPS checklist for UK employers

Before you finish a payroll period, ask:

• Did I pay any employees during this tax month? If not, you may need to submit an EPS to tell HMRC.

• Did I pay statutory maternity, paternity, adoption, shared parental, parental bereavement, or neonatal care pay that I can reclaim? If yes, check whether you need an EPS.

• Am I eligible to claim Employment Allowance? If yes, make the claim through your payroll reporting.

• Is my business liable for Apprenticeship Levy? If yes, report it monthly through an EPS.

• Is my limited company reclaiming CIS deductions? If yes, check the EPS requirements.

• Is this my final payroll submission for the tax year? Check whether an EPS is needed instead of or alongside your final FPS.

• Have I submitted the EPS by the relevant deadline?

• Has the submission been accepted?

You won't need to answer "yes" to all of these. The point is to identify whether anything happened during the period that requires an EPS.

Frequently asked questions about Employer Payment Summary (EPS)

• What is an Employer Payment Summary?  

An Employer Payment Summary, or EPS, is an RTI payroll submission that employers send to HMRC to report certain employer-level information, adjustments, recoveries, and periods when no employees were paid.

• When do I need to submit an EPS?  

You may need to submit an EPS if you haven't paid employees during a tax month, are reclaiming eligible statutory payments, claiming Employment Allowance, reporting Apprenticeship Levy, reclaiming CIS deductions as a limited company, or need to provide certain year-end information.

• Do I need to submit an EPS every month?  

No. You only need to submit an EPS when there is information that needs to be reported through one. If you pay employees but none of the EPS conditions apply, you generally submit your FPS without an EPS.

• What is the difference between an EPS and an FPS?  

An FPS reports employee payments and deductions to HMRC and is generally submitted on or before payday. An EPS reports certain employer-level information, adjustments, recoveries, or periods when no employees were paid.

• Can I submit an EPS without an FPS?  

Yes. For example, if you haven't paid any employees during an entire tax month, you submit an EPS to tell HMRC that no payments were made.

• When is an EPS due?  

For most EPS submissions, the deadline is the 19th of the following tax month. Specific reporting rules apply to Apprenticeship Levy submissions.

• What happens if I don't submit an EPS when no employees were paid?  

HMRC may assume that you failed to report your payroll and issue an estimated PAYE bill. You may also face a penalty.

• Can an EPS reduce my PAYE bill?  

Yes. Certain EPS information, such as recoverable statutory payments and Employment Allowance, can reduce the amount you need to pay HMRC.

• Can I use an EPS to claim Employment Allowance?  

Yes, eligible employers can claim Employment Allowance through their payroll reporting. A new claim is required each tax year.

• Can I use an EPS to reclaim Statutory Maternity Pay?  

Yes. Employers can use an EPS to report recoverable statutory payments, including Statutory Maternity Pay and other eligible statutory payments.

• Does an EPS replace the FPS?  

No. An EPS and FPS serve different purposes. You generally still need to submit an FPS when you pay employees. An EPS is used when you have additional employer-level information or adjustments to report.

• Do I need an EPS if I pay employees every month?  

Possibly. Paying employees doesn't automatically mean you need an EPS. You need to check whether you have any information that must be reported through one, such as statutory payment recovery, Employment Allowance, Apprenticeship Levy, or another applicable adjustment.

• What is an EPS tax month?  

For PAYE purposes, a tax month runs from the 6th of one calendar month to the 5th of the next. For example, 6 August to 5 September is one tax month.

• What information does an EPS contain?  

The information depends on why you're submitting it. It can include details relating to statutory payment recovery, Employment Allowance, Apprenticeship Levy, CIS deductions, periods when no employees were paid, and certain year-end information.

• Can I correct an EPS after submitting it?  

Yes. If you've reported incorrect information, you may be able to correct the relevant EPS information through your payroll software and submit an updated EPS. The exact process depends on what needs to be corrected and the software you're using.

• Do small businesses need to submit an EPS?  

Small businesses may need to submit an EPS just like larger employers. The need for an EPS depends on what happens during the tax period, not simply on the size of the business.

• Can payroll software submit an EPS?  

Payroll software can support EPS submissions as part of the employer's RTI reporting process. The software should help you identify the relevant payroll information, prepare the submission, and keep a record of what was reported.