HMRC timetable to replace PAYE EDI channel

09 September 2016

Following on from our News update on 29 June HMRC have provided a further written update to the EDI User Group regarding the deadline for re-platforming Electronic Data Interchange (EDI).

HMRC will be decommissioning the Electronic Data Interchange (EDI) channel and replacing it with an existing XML service, by April 2018.

Current EDI users will need to migrate away from the service before the deadline to the XML channel.  This will strategically position all of HMRC’s PAYE operations across the UK on the same platform.  HMRC is committed to providing secure and resilient services and this move ensures that any future enhancements and changes can be managed effectively.

Plans to make the move were originally announced at the API Strategy Launch Conference, on 7 September 2015, where Mark Dearnley, HMRC’s former CDIO, announced that the Department would end its use of the EDI channel within three years.

This important, but minor change, will have no effect on individual employees.

HMRC is putting a new team in place to provide support for the user community, to help them transition, ahead of the deadline.

Background

A meeting, held in May, marked the first formal consultation with representatives of the IReeN User Group, the British Computer Society and the Chartered Institute of Payroll Professionals to map user experience and capture pressure/pain points with the existing service. That customer engagement and consultation will continue and expand throughout this project.

Through the summer HMRC will be exploring technical options for a solution and engaging with the EDI user group to draw in user feedback/research. HMRC will be drawing out high level requirements and later in the year exploring the end technical solution in consultation with EDI users.

Further updates will be forthcoming as the project progresses however in the meantime if you have questions or experiences that you want to share with the EDI user group please contact Samantha Mann, CIPP Senior Policy & Research Officer at Policy.