Covid-19 update: “Plan for People’s Jobs and Incomes” & support for businesses
The Chancellor announces the “Plan for People’s Jobs and Incomes” and provides further support for business as the pubs close for last orders.
employment tax
A St. Patrick’s Day Surprise for Off Payroll Workers?
Tuesday 17 March was a busy day for the Government. From the growing threat Covid-19 is bringing to the UK and Europe as a whole, to the £330bn financial support announcement for businesses and individuals, it was a day of...
Action required following HMRC review of off-payroll working in the private sector
HMRC has now concluded its review into the implementation of the off payroll workers legislation from 6 April 2020. As anticipated, no delay has been announced and the legislation will take effect from 6 April 2020. In order to ensure a...
Myths, practicalities and preparing for the April 2020 changes to off-payroll working – an important update
With the imminent extension of the Off-Payroll Working (OPW) rules to the private sector from 6 April 2020, our clients are seeking our advice to confirm or dispel the myths they are hearing in the marketplace. HMRC recently released its...
Brexit – changes to social security rules for employees
Now that the UK parliament has passed the EU withdrawal agreement, UK employers should start to consider how they will deal with the additional social security costs and administration that may arise in respect of:- their employees working in the...
Remote workers – tax and regulatory considerations
Why is this an issue? Have you ever come across the situation where an US company identifies some UK based IT workers that they want to employ? Due to the nature of the work the employees don’t need to relocate...
Be aware of the HMRC Employment Status questionnaire!
If you have 50 employees or more, you are likely to receive the following from HMRC as they begin their knowledge sharing of the off-payroll changes for medium and large organisations in the private sector effective from April 2020: a...
Labour Market Enforcement Strategy 2019-2020
The latest annual Labour Market Enforcement Strategy was published on 22 July 2019. The Executive summary contains 12 broad recommendations on improving enforcement of employment rights including measures taken by three labour enforcement bodies cited below. These recommendations will need...
The State of Status – The Finance Bill and Off-Payroll Working in the Private Sector
The Finance Bill was published on 11th July. It was eagerly anticipated, mainly due to an expected update on how the off- payroll working rules introduced to the public sector in April 2017 were to be extended to the private...
Are the proposals for aligning tax and employment right rules due to be issued shortly?
On 4 February 2019 an agreement between the GMB and Hermes was announced, offering Hermes courier drivers a minimum level of pay across the year at a rate above the national minimum wage, and 28 days holiday. While it is...
Uber drivers- worker status confirmed by Court of Appeal
The Court of Appeal has rejected Uber’s appeal by a 2 to one majority concerning the employment status of three of its UK drivers. Uber has been given permission has been given to appeal to the Supreme Court. ‘Workers’ for...
IR35 for the Private Sector delayed but not dumped, and better for it
It was inevitable that the Government would follow the application of IR35 to public sector employees with a similar measure for the private sector. It is estimated that without corrective action £1.2 billion a year might have been lost in...
PAYE Settlement Agreements – Key information for employers to know about the requirements
The PAYE Settlement Agreement (PSA) is an effective simplification enabling employers to pay tax and National Insurance Contributions (NIC) directly to HMRC after the end of the tax year on certain employee expenses and benefits without needing to inform employees...
Termination Payment Changes – 2018/19 – 2019/20
Alignment of Tax and National Insurance Contributions Have you seen the changes in the legislation for Termination Payments with regard to income tax and National Insurance Contributions (NICs)? Payments in Lieu of Notice (PILONS) Up until April 2018 the rules...
Employment status of individuals working through personal service companies
The potential application of IR35 legislation to deem the receipts of personal service companies to be employment income of the individuals operating through them, has been high profile news recently. Applying the IR35 legislation may not always be straight forward...
Tax and the Iintermediaries legislation (IR35) applied to services provided via a personal service company
The First tier Tribunal (FTT) has rejected the contention that a BBC presenter, operating through a personal service company (PSC), Christa Ackroyd Media Ltd (CAM) was not subject to the intermediaries (IR35) legislation at ITEPA 2003 s.48-61. The case is...
Tax treatment of termination payments
There have been some recent changes to the employment tax treatment of termination payments, and it is important to understand the commencement dates. The notes below provide some further information on the impact of the changes and the commencement dates....
Budget 2017: Employment Tax – what is happening?
Whilst the main headlines coming out from the Budget include Stamp Duty for first time buyers, VAT registration thresholds and further investment in R&D, infrastructure and skills across the country, there were many important announcements impacting Employment Taxes, published in...
Good news for both employers and employees as Chancellor reduces the monthly headache of expense claims
The Chancellor has announced measures to reduce the administrative burden for employers in respect of checking employees’ expenses claims. From April 2019 employers will no longer be required to check receipts when reimbursing employees for subsistence using HMRC approved benchmark...
Reflection on the Taylor Review – Impact on National Minimum Wage (NMW) in the gig economy
HMRC, who ‘police’ the application of the NMW legislation, have up until now focused their attentions on particular sectors such as catering, hospitality, retail and charities where long hours are a characteristic feature of the business. However, increasingly they base...
Taylor review of modern working practices
Mathew Taylor’s review of modern working practices has been published, making a number of recommendations. While its remit did not cover tax changes, the report does discuss the tax incentives in the system influencing the way people chose to work...
The start of a new tax year and the start of the new off-payroll legislation for workers in the public services…
6 April has introduced a number of changes in the employment tax arena including new legislation in public services which means that intermediaries (agencies mainly) or public sector bodies will be responsible for deducting the income tax and NICs from...
What does the HMRC football compliance project mean for football clubs?
As HMRC launch a new initiative what does this latest campaign mean for football clubs? What is the background to this news and how can employers prepare for a visit from HMRC? How will the football compliance project be delivered?...
As a tax year ends, a new tax year begins….
6 April, the start of the tax year and there are some significant changes to the employment tax rules, as well as the usual changes to tax rates, allowances etc, which are effective from today. It’s crucial that all employers...
Not an eventful Budget for employment taxes…
The Spring Budget did not provide for any surprises in the area of employment taxes. So, what are the highlights? Consultations documents are expected on the following to address the inconsistencies in the tax system regarding benefits in kind and...
Off-payroll workers in the public sector – time is running out and there’s still much to do!
HMRC has published an ‘off-payroll’ working in the public sector page providing guidance for ‘fee-payers’ (the public authority (defined here), agency, or other third party paying the intermediary ), Personal Service Companies (PSCs) and public authorities in respect of the forthcoming...
Optional Remuneration Arrangements (OpRA) – further clarification
In our last blog on optional remuneration arrangements, we discussed the draft legislation which was published on 5 December 2016 and what employers need to know. However, we discussed a number of areas where the meaning and application of the...
‘Optional Remuneration’ (salary sacrifice) changes, what does this mean for employers?
The Government for some time has been concerned about the way in which the provision of benefits has evolved over the years with a growing market for flexible benefits, often combined with salary sacrifice arrangements. It recognises that such arrangements...
Off payroll reform for the public sector will go ahead…
The Autumn Statement has confirmed that the reforms for off payroll workers in the public sector will go ahead as planned, effective from April 2017. Intermediaries or public sector bodies will be responsible for deducting the income tax and NICs...
Highlights for employers from the Autumn Statement 2016
Chancellor of the Exchequer Phillip Hammond presented the Autumn Statement on 23 November 2016 outlining key facets of the government’s plans following the Brexit referendum result. While the focus was on productivity and investment there were a number of updates...
No no (NIC) Limits
The band, 2Unlimited’s single “No Limits” was number 1 in the UK in 1993 now 23 years later The Chancellor has made his own hit on the Limitation Act allowing collection of NIC beyond 6 years together with other tweaks:...
Salary sacrifice – some expected… some not expected
In our blog of August we set out the proposed changes to salary sacrifice arrangements as detailed in HMRC’s consultation document. The Chancellor today provided certainty of these changes from April 2017. What’s the issue? Employers choose to remunerate their employees...
All (largely) Quiet on the employment tax front…
The Chancellor in his Budget 2016 made a short reference to terminations payments and the use of personal service companies under tax avoidance measures. We’ve summarised some of the employment tax changes worthy of note: From April 2018 employers will...
Bankers’ bonus scheme bashed by Supreme Court
Two schemes designed to enable employees to realise significant cash sums without suffering income tax or PAYE have been ruled ineffective by the Supreme Court (SC), overturning the surprising judgment of the Court of Appeal in the companies’ favour. Redeemable...
Employment Tax Simplification: What was expected, not there, and new…
With a number of discussion documents issued by HMRC which would impact employment taxes, I was expecting more… Following the Summer Budget earlier in the year, HMRC issued a significant number of discussion documents and ‘calls for evidence’ as a...
New tax-free childcare – is it the end of salary sacrifice for childcare vouchers from autumn this year?
As you may be aware, from autumn this year (date to be confirmed), the existing childcare voucher scheme that we are familiar with will no longer be available for new entrants. Employers who currently provide childcare vouchers can continue to...
Clarity of employment rights for “workers” but what does this mean in terms of employment status and employment taxes?
You may have seen last week that, Vince Cable launched an employment review to help clarify and potentially strengthen the employment status of up to a million workers in the UK. This fits in with the Government’s agenda for making...