HMRC to work with employers on data quality

HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) is offering to help employers improve their PAYE data to ensure that it matches with its own records. It is has announced that its Targeted Employer Support (TES) service will be rolled out to at least 1,000 employers identified as having issues with their data quality, and said the move will help in the creation of the Real Time Information (RTI) service. RTI will involve employers providing details on tax and other deductions from employees when or before payments are made, rather than annually. It will play an important role in providing data to the Department for Work and Pensions to support the provision of universal credits from 2013. TES includes face-to-face visits to resolve any problems, and the roll out follows a pilot that ran between July and October with 12 employer schemes. HMRC said its analysis shows there are often problems in matching data sent by employers with its own records, particularly with national insurance numbers, data of birth and names. Stephen Banyard, acting director general for personal tax, said: "Pilot visits have shown that this face to face support can make a real difference to the quality of data we receive from employers and consequently will greatly assist the coming move to Real Time Information. "Every year, employers send PAYE data to HMRC. While most is accurate, mistakes can be made. This can cause problems for employees such as wrong amounts being deducted from their pay. It can also use up valuable employer and HMRC time and money putting the error right. "HMRC is working hard to get data quality ready before RTI comes in and, as well as TES visits, we will improve the communications and guidance we provide on this subject." This article is published by Guardian Professional. For weekly updates of news, debate and best practice on public sector IT, join the Government Computing Network here .