Archive for November, 2011

Under the Immigration, Asylum and Nationality Act 2006, the employer can incur large penalties for failing to check whether an employee, or potential employee, actually has the right to work in theUK.  The above case, heard in the Employment Appeals Tribunal, will not ease the penalty and compliance issues that many organisations have to contend [...]

There have been no shortage of UK and European cases in the last few years relating to the awkward issue of an employee’s entitlement to holiday pay whilst on sick leave. However, the case of Fraser v Southwest London St George’s Mental Health Trust appeared a relatively simple one. Mrs Fraser had an accident in [...]

As Susan Boyle’s latest release came through my letterbox, I had not even heard of LVCR, let alone appreciated that a ‘loophole’ allowed my CD supplier to avoid having to pay VAT by sending it from the Channel Islands.  However, as I discovered, the Channel Islands have been treated as outside the European Union for [...]

The story so far… The Coalition Government issued a discussion document in July 2010 called ‘Improving the Operation of Pay As You Earn (PAYE)’, which introduced us to the concept of Real Time Information and, later, Centralised Deductions.  Just after this, the DWP published their White Paper ‘Universal Credits – Welfare that Works’.  This outlined [...]

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 Post An employee is sick, has only been with the company a short while and is paid a net wage rather than the normal gross.  Is she entitled to SSP? [...]

Regulations were published on 11 November which provides that, where earnings are subject to income tax under the Disguised Remuneration legislation in Chapter 2, Part 7A of ITEPA 2003, they are also to be treated as earnings for National Insurance Contributions (NICs). The Regulations are effective 06 December 2011 and are not retrospective.  Employers do [...]

Any time we publish an article about maternity matters on payroll help, whether it’s about maternity pay or leave it’s always popular, and given the relative intricacy of the subject I suppose that’s hardly surprising. This week we have been inundated with questions on the subject and thought we should share them in full rather than include them as [...]

The recently-enacted Pensions Bill gave us the Pensions Act 2011.  Pensions will, undoubtedly, give us increased administration in the very near future, however, for payroll purposes, what does the Act give us that we did not already know?  The key issues of the five main Parts of the Act are discussed below: Part 1 – [...]

HMRC have published their weekly update for their customers and stakeholders.  This edition is all about RTI, giving updated FAQs for employers and a summary of responses to their consultation at the start of the year. Importantly, HMRC confirm that they are ‘on track’ to deliver RTI, however, focus on steps that employers should be [...]

HMRC approves professional bodies that meet the statutory criteria so that individuals can obtain tax relief on their annual subscriptions.  Employers may also obtain a dispensation to avoid the need to report subscriptions they pay on behalf of, or reimburse, their employees. The full list of professional bodies that have HMRC approval is published in [...]

The First Tier Tribunal (Tax) hears appeals relating to tax against decisions that have been made by the Commissioners for Her Majesty’s Revenue and Customs.  This decision from the First Tier Tribunal concerns the penalty that was raised by HMRC for the late filing of a P35. The deadline by which the P35 Return is required [...]

A frustration for any employer is the employee who just disappears. Here one day, gone the next. You hear nothing, wonder if the employee is ill, then after a few days of hearing nothing, you cease to care. So what do you do, just write him or her off the books and be ready to [...]

Last month you were asked what the following weird sentences have in common – and which is the odd one out? If you are deaf you should file your tax return before the rainy season begins. When the sailors’ mission inducted a young female pastor, quayside services at both ports were resumed. Edmund took pickled [...]

Moonlighting We have discovered that one of our full-time employees works an evening shift at a local company. Can we stop him? Reply You can take action against him in three circumstances. First does his job with the other company contravene his contract with you? It would do so if, for example, he was in [...]

You probably have read about or have been lectured on time management techniques.  Keep a log of your activities, plan your work carefully, prioritise jobs, allow for interruptions but also give yourself periods when you will not allow interruptions, review your activities at the end of the day. All good stuff, but the problem is [...]

Autumn and early winter are seasons notorious for accidents. More work time is spent during hours of darkness, people feel gloomy, whatever – accident rates go up, so this is a good time to review the safety of your workplace. You may well have an active safety committee with keen safety representatives and regular inspections, [...]

With the clocks having gone back and days becoming increasingly darker and colder, I feel that we are well and truly on the way to Christmas and the Autumn Statement on 29 November! This week’s FAQ follows the Statutory Payments theme from last week’s question and deals with the issue of requesting advance funding from [...]

The Pensions Bill 2011 has completed its parliamentary stages in both Houses and was granted Assent by the Queen on 03 November 2011.  We can now refer to this legislation as the Pensions Act 2011. Together with RTI, the provisions in the Pension Act will undoubtedly involve increased administration for employers.  There are a number of areas [...]

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 Post A new employee presents two P45s.  What should the employer do? I have a new employee that used to have two jobs and had their tax code split between [...]

Whilst this ruling from the Supreme Court is primarily concerned with the international issue of residency in the UK for tax purposes, the case also has implications for the wider payroll function. This was a long-running case, however, briefly, in the 1970s; Mr Gaines-Cooper moved to the Seychelles  and claimed that he had acquired a [...]