About the new Combined Employer Return
The new Combined Employer Return (CER) will allow you to securely combine together the filing of employer tax returns, social security schedules and manpower returns.
New start date
To allow sufficient time for employers to prepare their payroll systems to work with the Revenue Management System (RMS), the new Combined Employer Return (CER) process will now come in to effect from January 2021.
Methods for sending in your Combined Employer Return
In order to make your submission of CER’s into RMS as easy as possible for employers of different sizes, 3 options will be available:
- uploading a file using the online portal
- completing details manually using the Revenue Management System (RMS) input screen
- sending a file directly from a payroll system to the Revenue Management System (RMS)
Uploading a file using the online portal
You can submit your employees’ information using a file in XML format, which can be produced by a payroll system and then uploaded manually using the online portal.
As the file is uploaded it will undertake a two-stage validation process:
Stage one
- the XML will be checked to make sure it’s in a valid format and any mandatory elements are correctly included in the file
- if any errors are found, these will be displayed, the whole file will be rejected and it won’t be processed
- the errors will need to be corrected before the file can be uploaded again
Stage two
- employee Tax Identification Numbers (TIN) and Social Security Numbers (SSN) will be matched against the records held in the system
- if any mismatches are found, the errors will be reported, the whole file will be rejected and it won’t be processed
- once errors have been corrected the file can be re-uploaded
You won’t be able to submit data where the TIN and/or SSN are missing or do not match the information held in the Tax and Contributions systems.
It's essential that you have the correct information for all of your employees, to aid this process.
Completing details manually using the online portal
If you have a small number of employees you may find it easier to log into the online portal and submit employee earnings and contributions data directly into Revenue Management System (RMS).
As the information is entered, key elements such as your employees Tax Identification Number (TIN) and Social Security Number (SSN) will be checked and matched against the records held in the system.
You won’t be able to submit data where the TIN and / or SSN are missing or do not match the information held in the Tax and Contributions systems. It is essential that you have the correct information for all of your employees, to aid the smooth running of this process.
Sending a file directly from a payroll system
Some employers may wish to automate the sending of the CER by allowing their payroll system to submit a file directly to the Revenue Management System (RMS).
The payroll system will establish a connection to a file upload portal and transfer the XML file directly to RMS. As the file is uploaded it will undertake a two-stage validation process.
Stage one
- the XML will be checked to make sure it’s in a valid format and any mandatory elements are correctly included in the file
- if any errors are found, these will be displayed, the whole file will be rejected and it won’t be processed
- the errors will need to be corrected before the file can be uploaded again
Stage two
- employee Tax Identification Numbers (TIN) and Social Security Numbers (SSN) will be matched against the records held in the system
- if any mismatches are found, the errors will be reported, the whole file will be rejected and it won’t be processed
- once the errors have been corrected the file can be re-transmitted
You won’t be able to submit data where the TIN and / or SSN are missing or do not match the information held in the Tax and Contributions systems.
It's essential that you have the correct information for all of your employees, to aid this process.
Further information
If you have any further questions or require assistance email Revenue Jersey.
gov.je