How to connect to HMRC

Firstly, if you haven’t yet received your PAYE references then please do that first. You can find out more information about that here.

How to connect to HMRC

Once you have your credentials, you will need to follow the steps below:

1. Navigate to Settings from the left sidebar
2. Under the Company heading, select HMRC

You will be prompted to enter your credentials:

• Employer PAYE reference
• Accounts office reference
• HMRC (Government Gateway) User ID
• HMRC password

Select save, you will be taken back to your company settings.

How we test your credentials

When the HMRC credentials are entered into Pento we will run a test to validate them. We do this by sending a blank report to HMRC.

If you receive an email from HMRC saying Unsuccessful submission for Reference 120/XXXXXXX, then this means that your account has successfully been connected. Please see below for an example email:

If you do not receive the email, it does not mean that the connection was unsuccessful. Settings in HMRC might prevent them from sending the email to you.

Why am I seeing an error when I enter my credentials?

If you receive an error in Pento saying Validation failed. Please make sure you have entered the correct RTI credentials, then please try the following:

1. Check the credentials match exactly those you use for HMRC online services (you can try this by logging into the HMRC website).
2. Check that you have enroled for PAYE for Employers online (you should be able to view this scheme on the Business Tax Summary homepage).
3. Check that you have enabled FPS submissions from your account.

How to enrol for PAYE for Employers

To enrol for PAYE for Employers, you will need to enrol separately on HMRC PAYE Online service (if you did not get a login when you registered as an employer - it's usually because you did not register online).

To enrol for PAYE online, you can sign in to your account and select "PAYE for Employers" from the list.

If you do not have an account, enrol as a new business account holder and select Add a tax to your account on the Business tax summary page. You will then be able to add PAYE for employers.

How to enable FPS submissions:

1. Login to your HMRC online account
2. Click on "Manage account" in the top bar
3. Click on "Give a team member access to a tax, duty, scheme"
4. Click on "Team members"
5. Next to your name click "Manage taxes and schemes"
6. Check the box next to "PAYE for Employers"
7. Click save!

How should my HMRC account look?

If you've followed the above steps your HMRC online account should look something like this:

If you are still encountering issues then please contact HMRC directly.