What does the Build PAYE RTI Employer Payment Summary (EPS XML) skill do?

Convert an employer's period-level adjustments into the Employer Payment Summary (EPS) — the GovTalk XML that reports amounts reducing the PAYE liability (statutory-pay recovery, CIS deductions suffered, apprenticeship levy) and signals nil payments — sent to HMRC alongside the per-payday FPS, with a worked example

How do I run the Build PAYE RTI Employer Payment Summary (EPS XML) skill?

Copy the skill and paste it into your own Claude or ChatGPT, then provide your source data. FinchContext skills run inside your own AI assistant, so your financial data never leaves your control.

Which region does the Build PAYE RTI Employer Payment Summary (EPS XML) skill cover?

United Kingdom. It targets the local tax authority / e-invoicing format described on this page.

Build PAYE RTI Employer Payment Summary (EPS XML)

Skill: Convert period adjustments into an HMRC RTI Employer Payment Summary

Region: United Kingdom Category: Payroll — PAYE Real Time Information (RTI) Does: Takes an employer's period-level adjustments and assembles the Employer Payment Summary (EPS) — the GovTalk XML that reports amounts which reduce the PAYE liability (statutory-pay recovery, CIS deductions suffered, apprenticeship levy) and signals nil payments — sent to HMRC alongside the per-payday FPS. Spec: HMRC PAYE RTI — GovTalk message HMRC-PAYE-RTI-EPS (current schema version)

The FPS reports per-employee pay each payday; the EPS reports employer-level values the FPS can't: recovery of statutory payments (SMP/SPP/etc.), CIS deductions suffered (for companies), the Apprenticeship Levy, the Employment Allowance claim, and "no payment due"/period-of-inactivity notifications. Submit by the 19th of the following tax month for HMRC to offset the liability. Validate against the current tax-year RTI schema.

When this applies

File an EPS when, for a tax month, you need to reduce what you owe (statutory-pay recovery/compensation, CIS suffered), claim the Employment Allowance, declare the Apprenticeship Levy, or tell HMRC no FPS is due (no payments this month) or you're inactive for a period.
An EPS is not sent for every payday — it's month/period-level and only when there's something to report.

Message structure (GovTalk → EPS)

GovTalkMessage
  Header (Class = HMRC-PAYE-RTI-EPS, Qualifier, Function)
  GovTalkDetails (Keys: TaxOfficeNumber/Reference), ChannelRouting
  Body
    IRenvelope
      IRheader (Sender, PeriodEnd, IRmark, SenderID/Authentication)
      EmployerPaymentSummary
        EmpRefs (Office number / PAYE reference / AO reference)
        RecoverableAmountsYTD:
          SMP/SPP/ShPP/SAP/SPBP recovered + NIC compensation (YTD)
        CISDeductionsSuffered (YTD)          (companies)
        ApprenticeshipLevy (YTD + annual allowance)
        EmploymentAllowance (indicator/claim)
        NoPaymentForPeriod (date range)  /  PeriodOfInactivity (date range)
        DateSchemeCeased (if closing the scheme)

Data rules

Recoverable statutory payments are reported year-to-date (SMP/SPP/ShPP/SAP/SPBP recovered, plus NIC compensation for eligible small employers) — HMRC offsets these against the liability built from the FPS.
CIS deductions suffered (limited companies that are subcontractors) are reported YTD so they reduce the PAYE/CIS owed.
Apprenticeship Levy is reported YTD with the annual allowance applied; Employment Allowance is claimed via its indicator.
No payment due / inactivity: when no employees were paid in a tax month, send an EPS with the no-payment indicator (and date range), or a period of inactivity (up to the allowed months ahead) — otherwise HMRC expects an FPS.
Carries an IRmark and authenticated SenderID; validate against the GovTalk/RTI schema; submit by the 19th.

Worked example (outline)

EmpRefs: 123/AB456, PeriodEnd 2025-05-05
RecoverableAmountsYTD: SMP recovered 1,500.00 + NIC compensation 49.50
CISDeductionsSuffered YTD: 3,200.00
ApprenticeshipLevy: not due (under £3m pay bill) 
EmploymentAllowance: claimed
→ reduces the month's PAYE liability accordingly

Wrapped in the GovTalkMessage with IRmark and submitted to HMRC by the 19th.

Validation checklist

Current tax-year RTI/GovTalk schema (HMRC-PAYE-RTI-EPS) used
GovTalk envelope correct: Class/Qualifier/Function, EmpRefs, authenticated SenderID, IRmark
Statutory-pay recovery + NIC compensation reported YTD; CIS suffered YTD (companies)
Apprenticeship Levy (YTD + allowance) and Employment Allowance claim set where applicable
No-payment / period-of-inactivity indicator used when no FPS is due (with date range)
DateSchemeCeased set if closing the PAYE scheme
Schema-validated; submitted by the 19th of the following tax month

Last updated: 2026-05-31 — RTI schema, Employment Allowance, and Apprenticeship Levy parameters change each tax year; confirm the current EPS schema version, allowances/thresholds, and submission rules against current HMRC RTI guidance before use.