Archive for October, 2010

Two more court decisions feature in this week’s newsletter.  One is a Court of Appeal decision on the subject of “legal professional privilege” and who can use that defence in the face of an HMRC notice to disclose documents.  The other is the more down-to-earth situation of SSP entitlement when an employee is regularly injuring [...]

Readers may have noticed that there should have been a news item in last week’s newsletter, but it was inadvertently omitted.  However, another week has given us the opportunity to consider more closely the implications of HMRC’s decision to require tax code 0T to be used instead of BR when a new employee checks Statement [...]

Bacs Payment Schemes Ltd (Bacs), the organisation that provides the Direct Debit and Bacs Direct Credit services, has published an analysis of the effect of the recession on UK job sectors.  As over 90% of the UK workforce is paid via Bacs Direct Credit, the data can be used to highlight trends across 14 key [...]

In a decision given on 13 October 2010 in the case Prudential Plc & Anor, R (on the application of) v Special Commissioner of Income Tax & Ors, the England and Wales Court of Appeal ruled that legal professional privilege applies only to solicitors, barristers and appropriately qualified foreign lawyers. In November 2007, Prudential was [...]

In a decision given on 29 September 2010 in the case Aber Roof Truss Ltd v Revenue & Customs, the First Tier Tax Tribunal ruled that an employee with a long history of absences caused by football injuries is nevertheless entitled to SSP. In June 2008, Mr. Adams sustained a football injury, a strained knee [...]

On 18 October, the European Parliament debated the Commission’s relatively moderate proposals to extend the protection afforded by the Pregnant Workers Directive and a range of more radical proposals put forward by the Parliament’s Women’s Rights and Gender Equality Committee.  The speeches made by the many MEPs who took part in the debate are available [...]

In a newly-published States Report from the Treasury & Resources Department, a number of changes are proposed to the existing income tax regime in respect of pensions, both in terms of relief for contributions into schemes and the taxation of benefits from those schemes. In summary, the proposals are as follows: The process of seeking [...]

On 25 October, the Commerce & Employment Department published a consultation paper entitled A Review of Employment Law and Protections in Guernsey.  The Paper asks if the existing employment protections are set at an appropriate level or if more are required.  Options for potential legislation are proposed and comments are requested by 5 January 2011 [...]

The earnings limit, up to which Class 1 contributions are paid by employee and employer, increases from £3,646 to £3,686 per month from 1 January 2011. Further information: People in employed work – class 1 contributions Social Security (Earnings Limit) (Jersey) Order 2010

National Insurance numbers are allocated by the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) and, in the context of payroll, are the reference number by which HMRC identifies each individual’s income tax account and National Insurance contribution record.  The number is a critical data item in each employee’s payroll record.  It is used by DWP in [...]

Each week we receive a number of payroll questions on our forum, and here are this week’s batch. Can you help with any answers? Forum Posts Cycle to work (my) confusion I keep reading that the cycle to work scheme can be used in conjunction with existing salary sacrifice schemes. Am I right in saying [...]

November’s payroll calendar dates and deadlines for: the United Kingdom, the Isle of Man, Jersey, Guernsey, and the Republic of Ireland. United Kingdom November 2 – This is the date by which any relevant changes to the provision of company cars in the three months to October 5 must be reported using form P46(Car). November [...]

In a recent newsletter we referred to an announcement in the latest Notes for Payroll Software Developers that, from April 2011, tax code 0T would be an acceptable response to an employee checking Box C. Current PAYE rules require tax code BR to be applied in this situation, but not D0 in cases where it [...]

There’s much to consider in this week’s newsletter.  The Spending Review, with only one substantial piece of news for payroll, does not dominate as we might have expected.  There are changes to the way in which form P46(Car) will be completed from next April.  We also have the explanation for the use of 0T on [...]

The Chancellor presented his four-year Comprehensive Spending Review to Parliament on 20 October.  There were three matters of note to report. State Pension age One of the Coalition government’s policy announcements in its Emergency Budget in June was to review the date at which the State Pension age (SPa) would rise to 66, and a [...]

On 13 October, the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS) published its annual statistical review of small and medium-sized enterprise (SME) statistics for 2009. The 1,220,070 private sector employers with one or more employees (excluding companies with only one employee/director) can be analysed as follows: Employer Size Number of Employers Number of Employees # [...]

Each week we receive a number of payroll questions on our forum, and here are this week’s batch. Can you help with any answers? Forum Posts Alabaster and Total Pay Cuts We have an employee who is going on maternity leave shortly and the period of earnings that we need to look at to calculate [...]

Every employee who leaves, including those who say they are not going to work again, must be issued with a P45, except students who leave during the year and a valid P38(S) is in force employees for whom no tax has been deducted in the current tax year employees who are retiring from their employment [...]

The Coalition government announced early after coming to power that the 2011/12 increases in Class 1 NICs rates announced by the Labour government in the 2009 Pre-Budget Report (PBR) would be applied unchanged.  The promised National Insurance Contributions Bill, introduced in Parliament on 14 October, sets out the new rates as follows: the  main primary [...]

HMRC has published updated technical guidance for payroll system developers on expenses and benefits reporting, relating to online submissions of forms P11D, P9D and P11D(b) for the 2010/11 tax year, and form P46(Car) from the start of the 2011/12 tax year. There are no changes being made to P11D, P9D and P11d(b) reporting. The key [...]