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Delays during submissions to HMRC

Created on  | Last modified on 

Summary

What to do if your submission from Sage 50 Payroll to HMRC takes a long time or fails.

Description

When you submit data to HMRC, your software connects to HMRC's servers and transfers data over the internet. When the submission is complete, HMRC's system returns a 'successful' message. 

Sometimes, there's an issue that slows your submission, stops HMRC from accepting it, or prevents HMRC's system from returning a response.

 NOTE: To check the current status of HMRC's PAYE service, Go to the Gov.UK service availability website. 

Resolution

When HMRC's service is busy or unavailable, you may experience polling delays. This causes the submission to take a long time in your software.

If this happens, click Check again later when the option becomes available in the submission window. This lets you complete other work in your software while the submission continues in the background.

Reconnect to the Gateway and collect your response

After you click 'check again later', you need to check for a response from HMRC within 30 days.

  1. Click e-Submissions then click e-Submissions Log.
  2. Click the relevant submission on the list and click Update.

Your software reconnects to the Gateway and attempts to collect the response again.

 TIP: When you reconnect to the submission and it was successful, you should receive a confirmation email from HMRC. 

Employer Payment Summary (EPS)

If it was an EPS submission that failed to send, you can try to submit it again as normal without following the steps below.

That's because each EPS overwrites the last one, so there's no risk of duplicating liability with HMRC.

Full Payment Submission (FPS)

Whether your submission status is 'success', 'fail' or 'unknown', you can check your next steps below. Bear in mind that sometimes HMRC still receive your data even if the status is 'fail'.

 NOTE: If you're not sure if HMRC received your submission, you need to check. For help with contacting HMRC, go to Gov.UK. 

In Sage 50 Payroll, check whether the Last FPS Date on your employee list updated for the submission in question. If it did, it will match the process date you used when you updated records.

Next, select the relevant options below to find out your next steps.

▼ HMRC didn't receive my submission

Check the Last FPS Date on your employee list and select the relevant option below.

▼ Last FPS is the last period I submitted successfully

If it's still set to the last period you submitted successfully, your software is ready to try the submission that failed again.

Check the Process date is correct and try to send your latest submission again as normal.

▼ Last FPS has changed to the period that HMRC didn't receive

You need to try submitting your FPS again. Before you can do this, restore RTI files only to before you tried the last FPS. This takes the Last FPS Date back to the last period, allowing you to try the submission that failed again.

  1. Click Help then About.
  2. From the Program Details section, make a note of the Data directory.
     NOTE: Don't include the PAYDATA folder in your path. For example, note C:\ProgramData\Sage\Payroll\Company_001.  
  3. Click File then click Restore,
  4. Click Next.
  5. Clear Data Files then select RTI Files.
  6. Click Next then click Browse.
  7. Browse to the path noted in step 2 and double-click Archive.
  8. Select your most recent backup. Your software creates these backups when you update records in Sage 50 Payroll. The filename is based on when you updated records. For example, an update on the 25 January 2021, at 12:15pm, for monthly employees is M25012021_12_15_00.001.
  9. Click Open then click Next.
  10. Click Finish.
▼ HMRC received my submission

Check the Last FPS Date on your employee list and select the relevant option below.

▼ It hasn't updated to the period that initially failed to send

You need to update this date without sending the data to HMRC again. To do this, submit a dummy Full Payment Submission.

 CAUTION: If you don't correct the Last FPS Date before you submit the next period, your HMRC liability will become duplicated. 

▼ It's updated to the period that initially failed to send

You don't need to take any further action, as HMRC received the data and your Last FPS Date is correct.