Archive for April, 2009

At the end of March, the States of Guernsey entered into four new tax agreements: a Tax Information Exchange Agreement with Germany, a Tax Information Exchange Agreement with France, and a Double Taxation Agreement and a Tax Information Exchange Agreement with Ireland. Further information: Guernsey/Germany Tax Information Exchange Agreement Guernsey/Ireland Double Taxation Agreement and Mutual [...]

On 20 February 2009, the Agricultural Wages Board for Northern Ireland published proposals for changes to pay and employment conditions for agricultural workers. The changes have now been confirmed and come into force from 6 April 2009. The main details are as follows. The age bands (16 to 22) are removed and the automatic right [...]

It is still not clear if and when the pending improvements to maternity and paternity leave and pay will be introduced. The primary legislation is in place, there has been extensive consultation, but rumours abound that the government will not implement them in 2010. Nevertheless, further European legislation is on the horizon that will, in [...]

HMRC’s series of five short leaflets explaining what is expected of employers and contractors prior to and during compliance checks has been updated. Further information: Business series leaflets The UK Payroll News is sponsored by HRD & Payroll Solutions

Following representations from the Institute of Payroll Professionals (IPP), the Business Application Software Developers Association (BASDA) and the British Computer Society (BSC), the Scottish Parliament has decided to delay changes to the rules for calculating Scottish arrestments from 6 April 2009. Sharon Bell, Head of Policy Development Branch at Accountant in Bankruptcy, issued the following [...]

HMRC’s online systems are closed down for a period over each tax year end in order for the validations for the new tax year to be installed. The following updated information has been released by HMRC. It is subject to change and further information will be provided as it becomes available. It is does not [...]

The European Commission published a proposal to amend the Pregnant Workers Directive in October 2008. The Directive sets out the minimum levels of maternity rights, including leave and pay, that EU member states must provide. The UK already has, in some respects, generous maternity leave and pay entitlements and the new consultation document published by [...]

A few weeks ago, HMRC released a patch for the 2009 Employer CD-ROM to correct some minor start-up problems. A more important update is now available that corrects a number of errors that have also been identified. These include corrections to the official interest rate on form P11D(INT) and to some of the P11D-related forms [...]

Employers have been reminded that, under The Conditions of Employment (Guernsey) Law, 1985 as amended, all employees who are contracted to work 15 hours per week or more must be issued with a “ written statement” outlining the main terms and conditions of their employment, or a written contract, within four weeks of the commencement [...]

The Labour Relations Agency has advised employers in Northern Ireland that the reforms to employment law from 6 April, namely the new dispute resolution provisions and the right to request flexible working, apply to Great Britain but not to Northern Ireland. Employment law in Northern Ireland is the responsibility of the Northern Ireland Executive and [...]

Two agreements were signed by Ministers of the Isle of Man and France on 26 March 1009; a Tax Information Exchange Agreement and a Double Taxation Agreement in respect of international shipping. The Isle of Man now has tax co-operation agreements in place with 14 countries, over a quarter of the 51 TIEAs in existence [...]

Government incentives required to encourage businesses to reduce their carbon footprint Colchester, UK, April 1st 2009 – A recent carbon accounting survey by Access Accounting has highlighted that the Government is not doing enough to motivate businesses to make carbon-reduction initiatives a priority in the workplace. A staggering 84% of respondents felt that the government [...]