Employment and Payroll Group launched by HMRC

The inaugural meeting of HM Revenue and Customs’ (HMRC) new stakeholder group, the Employment and Payroll Group (EPG), will be held on 4 December, it was announced today.

The group will be made up of employer and payroll representative bodies, software developers, employers (small and large) and payroll bureaux. It will be the primary route through which HMRC, and other government departments, engage with the employment and payroll community about big PAYE operational issues, such as real time information (RTI) reporting.

The EPG will:  

• allow HMRC to tell stakeholders about big policy and process changes. There will also be consultation on operational detail. For example, stakeholders will get the chance to review user guidance earlier;
• have regular updates from other parts of government and HMRC;  
• concentrate on the big, most pressing operational issues;
• have a structured follow-up process so that issues can be escalated into HMRC more quickly.

HMRC’s Director General for Personal Tax, Ruth Owen, said:

“Engaging with the right stakeholders, at the right time, can be a huge benefit in making sure our processes are as customer-friendly as possible.

“EPG came about as a result of a wide review of stakeholder engagement and is intended to be HMRC’s principal consultation forum for employers and their intermediaries. It will focus on high-level operational policy and process issues. It will also provide a forum through which members can raise and discuss issues or problems in administering payroll obligations or in relation to employment tax issues more generally.”

The first EPG subsumes three existing groups: the Employment Consultation Forum (ECF), the Payroll Consultation Panel (PCP) and the Expenses and Benefits Group.

Notes for editors

  
1. EPG meetings will be held four times a year. The EPG is co-chaired with the Chartered Institute of Payroll Professionals (CIPP), and the minutes and terms of reference will be published.
2. It will complement the more targeted work of the Taxpayer Data Standards Forum (TDSF).
3. Follow HMRC's press office on Twitter @HMRCpressoffice
4. HMRC's flickr channel www.flickr.com/hmrcgovuk