It’s that time of the year again. 6th of July is almost here and, for those of us dealing with HMRC, this can only mean one thing: it’s time for another ERS Annual Return Filing. We thought you might need a refresher on this, so we've put together a little ERS Annual Return guide (it's what we do best, after all) on how to file an EMI Annual Return to HMRC the old-school way, or digitally through Capdesk.
To go through the basics first: if you have an EMI or CSOP scheme, you're obliged to file an Annual Return to HMRC every year on July, to tell HMRC about your employment related securities. This means detailing all actions relating to your scheme which took place over the last 12 months (eg. exercised grants, cancellations, taxation, replacement after an acquisition a.o.). If no actions took place, you still have to report this to HMRC through a Nil Report instead.
Considering that HMRC’s own guidance notes on how to file a CSOP or EMI Annual Return run to almost… ehem! 10,000 words, we’ve put together a handy HMRC Annual Returns guide for you. But if you’re a Capdesk user, the news is even greater - we've built an automated solution for filing your HMRC EMI Report in no time. No more premature grey hairs growing on your head every July. You’re welcome.
1. Filing Your ERS Annual Return Directly Through HMRC
a. Setting Up Your Submission
First, head to the HMRC login page and sign in to your company’s PAYE account. If you do not already have one you’ll need to register.
On the left-hand side menu, select ‘Employer Related Securities’ and then ‘View schemes and arrangements’. This will prompt you to pick which kind of EMI information you wish to submit. Select ‘End of year returns’ and click ‘Next’.
On the following page, you will be shown a table with recent tax years. The hyperlink ‘Submit Annual Return’ will appear next to the tax year that you are able and obliged to file a report for. Click that link to start your submission.
This will direct you to a page (shown below) with some additional information about the process of filing your EMI Annual Return. Read it and then click ‘Start Now’.
b. Your ERS Return: Declare Actions or File a Nil Report
The first part of your application asks whether any actions have taken place relating to your EMI options.
If no activity needs to be reported regarding your grants, select ‘No (nil return)’ and click ‘Continue’. This will automatically take you to step 3, adding your employer company’s details, discussed further down.
If there is activity to report, select ‘Yes’.
Now, you’ll have to upload your annual report, detailing the specific actions you are reporting. You have the option to upload either a .csv or an .ods file. If you are uploading a spreadsheet you made yourself, select the file type you used. If you are using Capdesk’s automatic export file, pick .ods.
A ‘Choose File’ button will appear on your screen. Click it to browse through your personal files and select your annual report. Then hit ‘upload’.
Next, HMRC will give you a chance to review that you indeed uploaded the correct file. If so, click ‘continue’ to proceed to the next section.
c. Adding Employer Company Details
In this section, you will be asked to choose whether your company is based in the UK or overseas. Then, enter the company’s name and address, and possibly its registration number and corporate tax reference. Click ‘Continue’.
Now, you’ll need to declare whether there are any subsidiaries to your company. Then click ‘Continue’.
If you selected ‘Yes’, you’ll now need to provide the subsidiary’s information too.
Once you click ‘Continue’, you’ll be shown a review of the subsidiaries you’ve included so far. Here you can make changes to the subsidiaries you added, or add a new one.
Click ‘Continue’ when you are done.
d. Review and Submit Your ERS Annual Return
Finally, you’ll be able to review your application and make any changes necessary before hitting ‘Accept and Submit’ to finalise your submission.
Congratulations! You are officially done and won’t have to deal with your Annual Return for another year! You should also be seeing a submission confirmation from HMRC on your screen now.
2. How To Generate An HMRC Annual Return Report on Capdesk
Pulling an Annual Return report from Capdesk really is as easy as clicking 3 buttons.
Firstly, head to the 'HMRC' tab on your left. Click the 'Export' button and select the type of Annual Return corresponding to your options scheme from the drop-down menu.
You should now receive your report straight to your inbox!
All the fields will have been automatically filled out with data already existing on your Capdesk account so you can rest assured it’s accurate.
All you have to do now is file it to HMRC. We told you it’s simple!
If you'd like to save all this for later, just go ahead and hit the button below.
