Combined Employer Return

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 2022.

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.

Development timetable

May 2020	Government of Jersey confirm final specifications with their systems supplier. Any feedback on the prototype CER Return XML data file exchange format (made available 22 January 2019) must be sent to Revenue Jersey before the end of May 2020.
June to December 2020	Government of Jersey supplier develops full SSC and CER solutions ready for testing.
January 2021	Final CER Return XML data file exchange format finalised (excluding regulatory changes that impact the data file). CER data file exchange format available to all interested third parties.
February to June 2021	Government of Jersey UAT period.
July to September 2021	Third party developers participate in beta testing.
October to November 2021	Open test system to public*.
December 2021	Subject to approval of the Treasurer's budget, all final rates, ceilings, allowances made available to employers and 3rd party software providers.
From 1 January 2022	New CER ready to receive all returns covering period from 1st Jan 2022. Subject to States Assembly approval, the new regulations come into effect to move Social Security Contributions filing to monthly (from quarterly) and update the “eight hour rule”.
Up to 15 January 2022	2021 CERs submitted in the old format.
30 June 2022	Old system for pre-January 2022 late returns and re-submissions closes.

Further information

If you have any further questions or require assistance email Revenue Jersey.