6th
Tax month starts
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UK RTI reporting guide
No one got paid this month: do I need an FPS or EPS?
Use the complete tax month—not a skipped run or calendar month—to decide whether payroll needs an FPS, a no-payment EPS or an inactivity review.
UK employersReviewed July 2026Based on HMRC reporting guidance
The decision boundary
A quiet pay run is not automatically a no-payment tax month.
Check every employment and every payment date in the scheme between the 6th and the 5th. Only then decide whether an FPS, no-payment EPS, planned-inactivity route or reporting correction applies.
Local-only reporting guide
Which RTI route fits this tax month?
Check the facts for the whole PAYE scheme first. This guide does not send a report, select a late reason or validate a real submission.
What happened between the 6th and the 5th?
Tax-month timeline
The 6th, 5th and 19th mean different things.
5th
Tax month ends
Only a whole 6th-to-5th period can be a no-payment tax month.
19th
EPS deadline
Send the no-payment EPS by the 19th of the following month.
Common situations
Do not let a skipped run decide the reporting route.
One missed weekly run
- What to establish
- Check whether anyone else was paid between the 6th and 5th.
- Likely route
- A skipped week alone does not make a no-payment EPS month.
No payments in the whole tax month
- What to establish
- Assess the no-payment EPS route.
- Likely route
- Use maintained software and submit by the 19th of the following month.
No future payments expected
- What to establish
- Assess planned inactivity separately.
- Likely route
- An EPS can notify a planned inactivity period from one to 12 months.
Someone was paid but FPS was missed
- What to establish
- Use the late-reporting route.
- Likely route
- Do not label an actual payday as a no-payment month.
PAYE scheme may close
- What to establish
- Review cessation and final reporting.
- Likely route
- Temporary inactivity and scheme cessation are separate decisions.
Important boundary
A no-payment EPS does not cover a missed FPS after an employee was paid.
Preserve the payment date and approved payroll output, then use the maintained late-reporting or correction route. Do not select a convenient no-payment route simply to hide an operational failure.
Browse all no-pay reporting routes
This static decision map remains available without JavaScript. It is an educational summary, not confirmation that a real report is correct.
Use the FPS route for the payday that occurred
At least one employee was paid in the tax month. This is not a no-payment tax month, even if a weekly run was skipped or another employee had no pay.
Start with: Reconcile the paid employment population and values to the approved payroll output.
Assess the no-payment EPS route for the complete tax month
Nobody was paid during the whole tax month. HMRC’s no-payment route is based on the complete 6th-to-5th tax-month window, not a calendar month or one skipped weekly run.
Start with: Confirm no employees were paid anywhere in the PAYE scheme during the complete tax month.
Consider a planned inactivity period rather than repeating a quiet-month decision
No payments are expected for a future period. HMRC provides an EPS route for a planned period of inactivity from one month up to 12 months, subject to the maintained reporting rules.
Start with: Check whether the PAYE scheme will continue and the exact tax-month range with no planned payments.
Treat a missed FPS after payment as a late-reporting issue
An employee was paid, but the FPS was missed or reporting is uncertain. A no-payment EPS is not the route for a payday that actually happened.
Start with: Preserve the payment date, approved payroll result and any prior submission evidence.
Treat PAYE-scheme cessation as a separate decision
The employer may be ending the PAYE scheme rather than having a temporary no-payment period. A cessation decision has its own final-report and employee-record controls.
Start with: Confirm whether the employer will genuinely stop employing staff or operating the scheme.
Pause and establish the reporting facts
The payment, reporting or future-pay pattern is unclear. HMRC reporting should be based on the facts of the tax month, not on an assumption that the month was quiet.
Start with: Reconcile every payment date and every employment in the PAYE scheme for the tax month.
Start with the complete tax month
Before deciding what to send, check every payment made under the PAYE scheme between the 6th of one month and the 5th of the next. A skipped weekly payroll run, one unpaid employee or a calendar month with little activity does not by itself create a no-payment tax month.
HMRC normally requires an FPS on or before each payday. If nobody was paid during a whole tax month, the no-payment EPS route applies instead; send it by the 19th of the following month. Read HMRC's payroll reporting guidance.
When an FPS is still the starting point
If any employee was paid in the tax month, begin with the FPS route for the actual payday. This remains true if:
- a weekly payroll run was skipped;
- some employees had no pay;
- the business plans to pay no one next month; or
- the employer pays HMRC quarterly rather than monthly.
Do not send a no-payment EPS simply because there was no payment in one pay period. GOV.UK explains FPS timing.
When nobody was paid in the whole tax month
If no employees were paid anywhere in the PAYE scheme for the complete tax month, assess the no-payment EPS route. The EPS should record the relevant no-payment period and be sent by the 19th of the following month. Keep the reason, submission and HMRC response with the payroll record. Tell HMRC no payment is due.
This is a reporting decision; it does not mean employees have left, that the PAYE scheme has ended or that a future payment has been cancelled.
Planned inactivity is different
If the employer expects nobody to be paid for a future period, HMRC provides an EPS inactivity route for a period of one to 12 months. This is not the same as discovering a past no-payment tax month. The report should use the maintained software route and its correct start and end dates.
If staff will not be paid for three months or more but remain on payroll, review the irregular payment pattern indicator on the last FPS before the gap. That indicator helps HMRC understand a long payment gap; it is not a substitute for checking EPS reporting. GOV.UK's employer guidance explains both controls.
A missed FPS after payment is not a no-pay month
Where an employee was paid but the FPS was not sent on time, preserve the payment date, approved payroll result and submission history. Use the maintained late-reporting or correction route instead of sending a no-payment EPS. A convenient EPS selection cannot turn a real payday into an empty tax month.
Use Lesson 9 to review FPS controls and Lesson 11 where reporting or payroll evidence needs correction.
PAYE-scheme cessation needs its own decision
Temporary inactivity is not the same as closing the PAYE scheme. Before stopping the scheme, verify whether final wages, later payments, corrections or continuing employees may still require the scheme and reporting route. HMRC's cessation process has separate final-report and employee-record requirements. Read GOV.UK's employer-cessation guidance.
Keep a quiet-month reporting record
For every quiet tax month, retain:
- the tax-month payment check;
- the reporting decision and its owner;
- the FPS or EPS reference and HMRC response;
- any inactivity, irregular-payment or scheme-cessation decision;
- the next review or expected payment point.
This keeps a quiet PAYE scheme visible and prevents a missing report from being mistaken for inactivity.
Related resources
- Lesson 9: Produce payslips, pay employees and send FPS
- Lesson 10: Send EPS, reconcile and pay HMRC
- Director-only payroll for a limited company
- 2026/27 UK payroll calendar
Sources and review
Reviewed July 2026 by the Workmax payroll team. This is general UK payroll information, not a confirmation that an FPS or EPS is correct for a real employer. Correcting submissions, CIS, statutory-payment recovery, scheme cessation and other specialist situations can change the right route.
Learn the complete reporting chain
A quiet month still needs an evidenced payroll decision.
Use Lesson 9 for FPS and payday reporting, Lesson 10 for EPS and HMRC reconciliation, and the payroll calendar to prepare the next reporting point.
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Make each payroll period visible—even when nobody is paid.
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