Archive for November, 2009

Earlier this year Scottish Ministers made Regulations that would have introduced new calculation rules for Scottish court orders from the start of the 2009/10 tax year with just four weeks notice. The uproar from payroll system developers, their Associations and the IPP quickly prompted a review and the Regulations were revoked at short order.  They [...]

The Scottish courts raise current maintenance arrestments (CMAs) to enforce the payment of maintenance, and earnings arrestments (AEs) to recover civil debts, fines and unpaid Council Tax.  If two or more concurrent arrestments are raised for the same person, they are combined into a single conjoined arrestment order (CAO). These court orders are applied by [...]

On 14 September 2009, the First-tier Tribunal Tax Chamber (formerly known as the General Commissioners) gave its decision in the case North Yorkshire Police and Mrs Deborah Wade v The Commissioners for HM Revenue and Customs. Our summary of the case and its implications for the handling of Statutory Maternity Pay (SMP) can be reviewed at [...]

The Department of Health and Social Security has confirmed that, between 2010 and 2020, the state pension age will increase for women from the current 60 years to 65 years, matching the process that will occur in the UK. The same stepped increases will apply, namely an increase of one month in the state pension [...]

We have a small collection of car-related items this week – one especially for employers in the motor trade whose employees take home different cars every night, another for employers who use HMRC’s advisory fuel rates when charging for private use or reimbursing for business use of company cars, and our FAQ this week is [...]

The Chancellor will make his Pre-Budget statement to the House of Commons on Wednesday, 9 December 2009 at 12:30pm. Immediate information about the speech will be available in various formats, as described on HM Treasury website.  Additional information for employers will be published immediately on the HMRC and Business Link websites. Further information: Pre-Budget Report [...]

HMRC has published its non-statutory Charter, describing its role, what its customers can expect, and what HMRC expects of its customers.  The rights and obligations are summarised as follows but are explained in more detail in the Charter itself: Your rights – What you can expect from us: Respect you Help and support you to [...]

On 12 November, the Department or Work and Pensions published the findings of research exploring small employers’ likely responses to the workplace pension reforms set to come into force in October 2012. The main findings are: The idea of a ‘saving culture’ in which people take responsibility for saving for the future and do not [...]

In November 2008, HMRC announced new “averaging” arrangements that may be used by employers in the motor industry when calculating the reportable value of cars that are changed very frequently. The procedure involves determining the average price and emission level ratings for cars available in each car group at each location.  A number of simplifications [...]

The Advisory Fuel Rates are reviewed every six months and new rates will be effective from 1 January 2010.  They are expected to be announced in late November. Although a month’s notice of the changes is given, employers have been permitted to apply the new rates immediately, i.e. up to a month before their official [...]

The key subject of this week’s newsletter is “cycle-to-work” schemes, prompted by a number of Department for Transport “green” initiatives that are intended to encourage employees to commute by bicycle. One measure involves a commitment by employers to provide the necessary support facilities at the workplace to make cycling to work a realistic proposition. Another is a [...]

Section 244 of the Income Tax (Earnings and Pensions) Act 2003 provides exemption from income tax on the provision of a cycle or cyclist’s safety equipment, irrespective of how it is provided, as long as the specified conditions are met.  The exemption, which also applies to National Insurance contributions, has prompted the creation of “cycle-to-work” [...]

On 27 October 2009, the Employment Forum recommended an increase in the minimum wage rate and made recommendations in regard to three specific issues – tips and gratuities, benefits in kind, and a student or youth rate – which had been the subject of a consultation in June 2009. In summary, the recommendations are as [...]

We have a little less reading this week, covering a variety of subjects. If you have strong views about retiring at age 65 and would like to see the default age scrapped, you have an invitation from the Government to make your views known. The recent High Court decision gives reason to think that change is necessary [...]

In September 2008, the Department for Communities and Local Government (DCLG) published a consultation document entitled Standing for Office: Time-Off Entitlements.  It is available at www.communities.gov.uk/documents/communities/pdf/976040.pdf. The Employment Rights Act 1996 already provides time-off rights for employees to perform specified public duties, such as a magistrate or as a member of a local authority, police [...]

Under the provisions of the Employment Equality (Age) Regulations 2006, employers are obliged to consider seriously requests from employees to work beyond the default retirement age of 65.  An earlier retirement age may be used but only if the employer can justify it objectively.  The Age Equality Regulations are the UK’s implementation of the European [...]

Figures issued by the Child Maintenance and Enforcement Commission (CMEC) show that, by the end of September 2009, over 797,000 children were benefiting from child maintenance.  It is now a year since CMEC took over responsibility for the Child Support Agency.  The latest figures also show that the CSA collected or arranged £1,131 million in [...]

Section 394 of the Income Tax (Earnings and Pensions) Act 2003 imposes a tax charge on the provision of relevant benefits from an employer-financed retirement benefits scheme (EFRBS).  For example, if a retired employee continues to be provided with private medical insurance, it is fully taxable under these rules. Certain specified benefits are, however, excluded [...]

Sections 270A and 318A of the Income Tax (Earnings and Pensions) Act 2003 (ITEPA) provide limited tax exemptions for the provision of childcare vouchers and employer-supported childcare.  One of the conditions that must be met in order for these exemptions to apply is that the childcare must be “qualifying child care”.  The definitions of “qualifying [...]

The provisions of the concession (E6) relating to awards made for passing professional examinations were updated on 20 October 2009, as follows: Where an employer makes an ex gratia payment to an employee for passing professional examinations, which are relevant to the individual’s employment, no liability to Income Tax arises in respect of that payment, [...]