Archive for November, 2008

On 29 October, the Employment Forum presented its minimum wage recommendation to the Social Security Minister.  If accepted, the minimum wage would rise to £6.08 per hour from 1 April 2009, an increase of 4.8 percent on the current rate. The Forum has also recommended increases in the trainee rate and in the maximum amounts [...]

During 2006 and 2007, businesses making total annual PAYE/PRSI payments of up to €28,800 became eligible to make their payments on a quarterly rather than monthly basis.  The same simplified arrangements are being extended to include newly eligible customers from 1 January 2009. Revenue is now in the course of writing to each eligible business [...]

Summary: The existing local “averaging” procedures, agreed between employers and tax offices in order to calculate the car benefit charge for employees who change their cars very frequently, is replaced by a new, seven-step, national averaging procedure from April 2009. In August 2008, HMRC made a number of changes to its Employment Income Manual, one [...]

In an interim decision given by the Special Commissioner on 23 October 2008 in the case Mason v HMRC, the Special Commissioner ruled that he was unable, pending further information, to uphold Mr. Mason’s appeal on statutory grounds but expressed the view that Mr. Mason has a “real, and very unfortunate, grievance” against the Secretary [...]

The House of Lords decision in 2005 in the case Wilkinson v Inland Revenue raised issues concerning HMRC’s powers to make extra-statutory concessions.  Within its remit of collecting taxes, HMRC has “wide managerial discretion as to the best means of obtaining for the national exchequer from the taxes committed to their charge, the highest net [...]

Sections 6 and 7 of the Social Welfare (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2008 makes provision for the annual PRSI earnings ceiling applicable to employees and optional contributors to increase from €50,700 to €52,000 from 1 January 2009. Further Information: Hanafin publishes Social Welfare Bill to give effect to Budget changes Social Welfare (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2008 [...]

Statutory Sick Pay and agency workers are a key feature of this week’s news items.  A new version SSP1 came into use from 27 October.  The new, less work intensive, form can be  downloaded from the DWP’s website or ordered in bulk.  From the same date, the legislation that, in error apparently, prevented agency workers [...]

By means of a minor change to the Fixed Term Employees (Prevention of Less Favourable Treatment) Regulations 2002, agency workers are entitled to be paid SSP from the start of their employment.  The change is effective from 27 October 2008 and corrects a situation that came to light when the Court of Appeal, in a [...]

After six years of disagreement, the European Parliament has voted in Strasbourg to support, without amendment, the proposals for the Directive on Temporary Agency Work put forward by the European Commission. The Directive aims to ensure that temporary agency workers are treated on an equal basis with permanent workers, but also aims to recognise the [...]

The National Employment Rights Authority (NERA) is responsible for monitoring a range of employment rights through its Inspection Service.  An employer’s records may be inspected  as a result of complaints received of alleged breaches of employment rights, as a result of targeted inspection campaigns and as a result of routine inspection enquiries. NERA has published [...]

Revenue is now reviewing the entitlement of subcontractors holding C2 cards with an expiry date of 31 December 2008 to renew their C2 cards for 2009. As part of this review, letters are being issued to subcontractors who, according to Revenue records, have outstanding liabilities and/or returns. Details will be provided to the subcontractor with [...]

What procedures must be followed when applying the details from a P45 for a new employee? (Part 3) Part 1 of this Employer FAQ considers the checks that an employer must make to the first six of the seven items that appear on Part 2 of a form P45 that is provided by a new [...]

Interest is charged by HMRC when income tax and NICs are paid late, and credited when they are overpaid.  New interest rates have been announced and take effect from 6 November 2008. The rate of interest charged on income tax and NICs paid late decreases from 7½% to 6½%. The rate paid on overpaid tax [...]

In June 2008, HMRC published a new factsheet on employment status for the benefit of workers.  This has now been complemented by a fact sheet for employers.  The new factsheet replaces the old IR56 booklet but is much shorter, on the assumption that employers will initially have used the online Employment Status Indicator (ESI) tool [...]

The Finance Act 2008 and Regulations made under that Act introduce new requirements for promoters of tax avoidance schemes from 1 November 2008.  HMRC has updated the booklet Disclosure of Tax Avoidance Schemes to include the changes.  The legislation applies to any arrangement that will, or is expected to, provide the user with a tax [...]

On 27 October, Income Support was replaced by Employment and Support Allowance (ESA) for new applicants.  As ESA does not require employers to provide employees’ sickness and SSP  history, the new simplified SSP1 form, used to advise employees of the reason the employer cannot pay, or continue to pay, SSP, came into use from that [...]