Archive for February, 2009

The saga of the opt-out from the 48-hour average working week continues with the publication by the European Commission of its view of the amendments to the Working Time Directive passed by the European Parliament in December. Despite a willingness to compromise on a number of issues, the Commission is still resolved to reject any [...]

Alistair Darling will make his Budget statement to the House of Commons on 22 April 2009. Further information: Budget 2009 The UK Payroll News is sponsored by HRD & Payroll Solutions

New Double Taxation Agreements and Tax Information Exchange Agreements with the Isle of Man, the Netherlands and France have been approved by Parliament and the Statutory Instruments were made on 11 February 2009. They will enter into force when the respective countries complete their legislative procedures and will take effect for income tax purposes from [...]

On 16 December 2008, the European Parliament voted in favour of amendments to the European Working Time Directive that would, among other changes, phase out the opt-out from the average 48-hour working week. By so doing, the Parliament rejected the common position that had earlier been agreed by the EU Council of Ministers. Having reviewed [...]

On 10 February, the Labour Court gave notice that it had made Orders abolishing the Hairdressing Joint Labour Committee and the Hairdressing (Cork County Borough) Joint Labour Committee. In their place, a further Order has been made establishing a single Joint Labour Committee in relation to certain workers employed in the Hairdressing Sector and their [...]

By Curt Finch, CEO, Journyx and Bruce McGraw, CEO, Cognitive Technologies According to a 2008 Gartner report, 15% of all IT projects failed that year because of high cost variance, while 18% were unsuccessful because they were substantially late. This means that in 2008, 1 in 3 technology projects failed. Why such a dismal success [...]

This week’s item about NICs thresholds and limits, prompted by new Regulations that introduce the changes to the NICs recording requirement from April, includes a little exercise to see how happy you are with calculating NICs using a calculator – or at least the first part of the process. It is also time to start [...]

From 6 April 2009, the new “upper accrual point” (UAP) replaces the “upper earnings limit” (UEL) for the purpose of limiting the amount of earnings on which a contracted-out rebate or minimum contribution is payable and which are taken into account in calculating accrual entitlements for the state second pension. The levels at which the [...]

All of the 2008/09 year-end forms and the forms and guidance documents for 2009/10 are available to order or download from HMRC’s Employer Orderline. The following documents are of interest: form P9X provides the annual instructions on the general tax code uplift from the start of the 2009/10 tax year Employer Helpbooks E14, E15 and [...]

In June 2008, the Department for Innovation, Universities and Skills (DIUS) published Consulting on a new right to request time to train for employees in England. The intention is to give established employees, likely with 26 weeks’ service, a legal right to ask their employer to give them time away from their mainstream duties to [...]

Two weeks ago we described the new tribunal structure that replaces the General Commissioners and Special Commissioners appeal processes from 1 April 2009. Guidance for taxpayers who wish to have an HMRC decision reviewed or to appeal against a decision has now been published in Factsheet HMRC1 HMRC decisions-what to do if you disagree. The [...]

The UK Payroll News is sponsored by HRD & Payroll Solutions

This is a quiet week for news, at least in comparison with last week. As well as some international matters, which are only going to appeal to a minority of readers, there is some additional PAYE and tax guidance for pension payers. If you read last week’s FAQ on holiday pay and decided that you [...]

Information on the day-to-day operation of PAYE on pension payments made by pension payers and by the former employer are provided in HMRC’s CWG2 Employer Further Guide to PAYE and NICs. Guidance on less common situations has now been published by HMRC in an online document Guide for pension and annuity payers. Among other subjects, [...]

The Double Taxation Convention between the United Kingdom and the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, which was signed in London on 31 October 2007, entered into force on 1 January 2009. In the United Kingdom the provisions of the Convention will take effect from 1 April 2010 for corporation tax purposes and from 6 April 2010 [...]

On 20 January, Guernsey and the United Kingdom entered into a tax information exchange agreement (TIEA). There was also an agreement reached to revise the long-standing Double Taxation Agreement between the countries so that Guernsey residents will not have to pay UK tax on UK pensions that do not relate to government service Such pensions [...]

On 29 January, the Isle of Many concluded two agreements with the government of Australia, a tax information exchange agreement (TIEA) and an agreement on, among other matters, the taxation of pensions and retirement annuities and the taxation of salaries from government service. The agreements will come into force when both countries have concluded their [...]

The rate of interest used for repayment of tax paid on account reduces from 3% to 0.5% from 6 February 2009, and the rate at which interest is calculated on overdue tax reduces from 8% to 5% from the same date. Further information: Interest and repayment supplement change of rate The UK Payroll News is [...]

Developing corporate performance through superior HR management 25th March 2009, Prague, Czech Republic EastEuro Link Ltd is pleased to announce the premier event dedicated to CEE HR Professionals, to take place on the 25th March, 2009 at the Hotel Ambassador, Zlata Husa ,Prague, Czech Republic. This exclusive one day event is unique opportunity to gain [...]

It is nearly four years since the Court of Appeal, in the Ainsworth case, grappled with the concept of workers taking holidays while on long-term sick. We commented at the time that the court’s decision was unsatisfactory because it defined a rule that went beyond the legislation, namely that if a person was absent for [...]