Changes to salary sacrifice are being made as a consequence of auto-enrolment, which will prevent scheme users from being left out of pocket.
HM Revenue & Customs has confirmed that employees will not be held to the arrangement if they decide to opt out of the pension. They will...
Do you have a burning payroll question?
Q An employee has been undergoing treatment involving a gender change from male to female. From the chart of changing State Pension Age (SPA) for women between 60 and 66 we calculate that for a female employee this person’s age would be treated as having reached the SPA from the 6th of next...
Linda Pullan outlines the implications of the Budget for the payroll and employee benefits industry.
Chancellor George Osborne delivered his second Budget on 21 March 2012. Although it contained several items affecting payroll and employee benefits, the main proposals are from 2013/14 and beyond (subject to Parliamentary approval).
There is one particular exception, however –...
Q We have realised we made a mistake in the P14 information we submitted to HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) as part of our end-of-year return. How do we go about putting things right?
A You can send HMRC an amended return. This can be done electronically using the free HMRC Online...
Tax reforms, support for growth and reward for work formed the centre of George Osborne’s 2012 Budget.
The Chancellor of the Exchequer has announced a continuation of his deficit reduction programme, by taking from the rich and giving to the poor in what has been dubbed...
In last month’s Back to Basics article we began to look at some of the checks we need to make in advance of tax year end on 5 April. However, before we continue with these, let us look at our timetable for submission and work back from there.
The tax year 2011/12 ends on 5 April...
Businesses face an increase in National Insurance contributions (NICs) due to a change in the emissions thresholds for company cars.
From April 2012, vehicles producing more than 99g/km of CO2 will be subject to higher tax rates. Previously, the 10 per cent tax threshold applied to...
Q We have to make a number of employees redundant. We have been consulting with the affected workers, and have arranged with them to pay an enhanced redundancy package. In addition, we have decided to make payments in lieu of their normal three months’ notice.
As this has all...
David Cameron has admitted that the National Insurance (NI) holiday for new businesses was not as successful as he had hoped.
The Treasury has revealed that only 10,000 companies have taken up the scheme which provides a deduction of up to £5,000 from employer NI contributions....
Q We have an employee who joined us in June. Unfortunately, she was set up incorrectly on the payroll as a woman paying reduced rate National Insurance contributions (NICs) under NI table letter B, instead of letter A. The mistake was only discovered at the end of December. What do we do?...
Brad Chick assesses George Osborne’s Autumn Statement and its impact on payroll and benefits.
The Chancellor George Osborne delivered his Autumn Statement on 29 November 2011, which concentrated on further cost cutting and infrastructure investment. However, it also confirmed payroll measures that had already been made public.
Income Tax
Personal Allowances have increased,...
Plans to merge Income Tax and National Insurance (NI) are moving forward.
A number of technical working groups are to be created to explore the options for reform, following the publication of the initial responses from the Government’s call for evidence.
The reaction...
Calls have been made to cut National Insurance (NI) for everyone under the age of 25.
The suggestion was made by David Blanchflower, a former member of the Bank of England Monetary Policy Committee, who spoke about his proposals to the Daily Telegraph. In order to curb youth...
The Confederation of British Industry (CBI) has called for a tax break to incentivise employers to take on a worker aged between 16 and 24 years old.
Its Young Britain Credit would be worth £1,500 and would cover a firm’s National Insurance costs for the first year after...
High-street retailers are calling for a National Insurance (NI) holiday to help encourage growth and raise employment.
Ian Cheshire, Chief Executive of Kingfisher, which runs B&Q and Screwfix, and Jill McDonald, Chief Executive of the UK arm of McDonald’s, have proposed that firms...
