Archive for August, 2008

There are only a few items this week, including an update on the two new P46-type forms that will be in use from April 2009. I also can’t get too excited about double taxation conventions but I must admit to being in awe of specialists involved in international payroll matters. The news item from Ireland [...]

Following enquiries may by the Labour Court into the proposal to replace the four Joint Labour Committees (JLCs) in the clothing industry with a single JLC, the necessary Orders have been made to establish the Joint Labour Committee for the Clothing Sector from 26 August 2008.  Four corresponding Orders have also been made to abolish [...]

HMRC has published details of the government’s current programme and priorities for Double Taxation Conventions (DTCs) for the year to 31 March 2009. The key points are: Work should be completed on new DTCs with the Netherlands, Ethiopia, Libya and Thailand; and on Tax Information Agreements with Brazil, Jersey, Guernsey, Isle of Man and the [...]

Last week’s news item on this subject described the changes that have been made to the definition of “qualifying child care” for the purposes of the limited tax exemption for employer-contracted child care and the provision of childcare vouchers. We made reference to HMRC’s booklet E18 How to help your employees with childcare as a [...]

HMRC is introducing two additional P46 forms from 6 April 2009: the P46(Pen) Notification of pension starting will be used for new pensioners, and the P46(Expat) Employee seconded to work in the UK will be used for, among others, foreign nationals who are seconded to work in the UK, while remaining employed by an overseas [...]

Both September and October present compliance challenges for payroll departments. From the start of September, changes are being made to the definition of “qualifying child care” in the context of facilities and vouchers provided by employers.  The £55 per week exemption is lost if the child care does not meet the statutory definition, and the [...]

The increased personal allowance comes into effect from paydays falling on or after 7 September.  The following new documents and booklets that reflect this change are now available to download from HMRC’s website: P7X    Tax codes from 7 September 2008 E12    PAYE & NICs rates and limits for 2008-2009 E13    Day-to-day payroll PAYE Taxable Pay [...]

The Scottish Agricultural Wages Board has confirmed an increase of 24p per hour for agricultural workers with more than 26 weeks’ continuous employment from 1 October 2008. The Board met on 30 July 2008. As no written representations against its proposals for change had been received, the Board agreed that a new Wages Order will [...]

The Business Link website, operated by the Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform, has been updated with guidance on the changes to maternity and adoption rights from October 2008.  It includes information about employees’ rights to receive contractual benefits during additional maternity or adoption leave and the restricted right to continued pension contributions during [...]

For the particular benefit of payroll system developers, HMRC has published samples of the P11 and P14/P60 forms that will be used for the 2009/10 tax year.  They reveal the way in which NICs will be recorded and reported following the introduction, from April 2009, of the “upper accrual point” (UAP).  The UAP is the [...]

Where the qualifying conditions are met, employers are able to provide childcare benefits that enjoy full or partial tax exemption, namely childcare facilities on the employer’s premises childcare facilities contracted by the employer off-site childcare vouchers. In the case of the second and third of these provisions, which enjoy a limited tax exemption of up [...]

HMRC’s internal Manuals for tax inspectors are an invaluable source of guidance for those of us who have to make sense of the UK’s complex tax laws. I always quietly groan when HMRC announces that it has made changes to some of the pages in the Employment Income Manual (EIM) or, more rarely, the (increasingly [...]

Manual. The Manual is published on HMRC’s website and is thus publicly available. When changes are made periodically to some of the Manual’s pages, the details are announced, allowing anyone interested enough to pore over the details to see how HMRC’s application of the Benefits legislation has been adjusted. The following changes and clarifications, which [...]

The Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform has published a Report that describes the conclusions reached by the Vulnerable Worker Enforcement Forum. The Forum was established in June 2007 to look at the nature of employment rights abuses, assess the effectiveness of the current enforcement arrangements, and identify possible improvements. Its members are drawn [...]

HMRC’s National Insurance Services to Pensions Industry (NISPI) is a directorate within the National Insurance Contributions Office and deals with occupational pension schemes and Appropriate Pension Schemes that are contracted-out of the State Second Pension. NISPI has recently published a comprehensive Information guide explaining all aspects of contracting-out. Further information: Pensions Industry Information Guide The [...]

In March 2008, HMRC published a new set of benchmark scale rates covering accommodation and subsistence expenses for business travel in most countries of the world. A new document, updated to the end of July 2008, has now been issued. Further information: Worldwide Subsistence Rates The UK Payroll News is sponsored by HRD & Payroll [...]

A further series of questions and answers on the operation of salary sacrifice (SS) schemes has been published on HMRC’s website. Some of the questions appear to have been prompted by the recently published guidance on the changes to be made to the provision of benefits-in-kind during maternity leave from October 2008. The following notes [...]

The Commissioners of Revenue and Customs have issued their annual “directions” stating that the date at which the decision will be made by HMRC on each employer’s size for mandatory electronic filing and payments for the 2009/10 tax year is Sunday, 19 October 2008. Further information: Directions under regulations 190 and 209 of Income Tax [...]

The government has responded quickly to a press campaign targeted at restaurants that allegedly fail to pass on tips in full to their staff. New legislation is promised that will prevent tips being counted towards the national minimum wage, starting with a consultation in the autumn. This week we also review, in some detail, two [...]

Following recent high-profile newspaper campaigns, the Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform has announced its intention to amend legislation so that tips will not count towards National Minimum Wage (NMW) compliance. The current rules, set out in the National Minimum Wage Regulations 1999, do not permit “amounts paid by customers by way of a [...]