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Tax
Government Responds to Review of Pensioner Taxation
Tuesday, May 14th, 2013In 2011, HM Treasury asked the Office of Tax Simplification (OTS) to look at simplifying the system for the estimated 5.6 million people of pensionable age who pay tax. In March 2012, the OTS published the first stage of their review and identified a number of issues for further review and consideration: Simplification of the [...]
Welsh Income Tax Closer?
Wednesday, April 24th, 2013November 2012, we reported how Paul Silk chaired an independent Commission on the devolution of fiscal and constitutional powers in the Principality (the Silk Commission). This is in two parts: Part 1 To review the devolution of fiscal powers from Westminster and make recommendations on powers that will improve the financial accountability of the Welsh [...]
Employee-Shareholder Employment Contracts
Wednesday, April 24th, 2013Clause 27 of the Growth and Infrastructure Bill amends the Employment Rights Act 1996 and gives the necessary legislative backing to the new Employee-Shareholder employment status (in addition to the existing worker and employee statuses). This status will allow a company to issue shares to a new employee in exchange for them forfeiting some employment [...]
The Learn Centre’s Tax Facts 2013/14
Tuesday, March 26th, 2013Following the Budget last week, The Learn Centre is pleased to advise that the 2013/14 tax year factcard is available at the below link. This includes all the essential information that payroll professionals need to have at hand in one document. For example, we detail the tax and NI thresholds, the statutory payment rates and [...]
Consultation on Payroll Giving
Tuesday, January 29th, 2013Payroll Giving was introduced in 1987 as a way of providing a tax-efficient means of donating to charity. Currently, donations reduce taxable pay, meaning that a £1 donation by a Basic rate taxpayer will actually only cost them 80p after the application of tax relief. In 2012, HM Treasury announced that the topic of Payroll [...]
OTS Final Report on Review of Pensioner Taxation
Tuesday, January 29th, 2013On 11 July 2011, HM Treasury asked the Office of Tax Simplification (OTS) to look at simplifying the system for the estimated 5.6 million people of pensionable age who pay tax. Specifically, the remit was to identify the parts of the tax system that caused the greatest difficulty, especially where pensions are received from multiple [...]
Top Tax Criminals of 2012
Wednesday, January 9th, 2013HMRC have released details of the top tax criminals of 2012 who have been sentenced to a combined total of 155 years and 10 months behind bars. The details have been published on Flickr as part of HMRC’s current Tax Evasion Campaign. Exchequer Secretary to the Treasury David Gauke said: “The Government is committed to closing in [...]
Tax
Thursday, December 6th, 2012The Mansion Tax Mr Osborne said that more will be paid by the ‘better off’, however, this did not mean a tax raid by applying a higher tax rate and he confirmed that there would be no tax on property. Accompanied by head-shaking from the Deputy Prime Minister, this signals the end of speculation about [...]
Tax Simplification
Thursday, December 6th, 2012Income Tax and NICs Reform Point 2.52 of the Autumn Statement report said: ‘The Government will wait for further progress on planned operational changes to the tax system before formally consulting on the operational integration of income tax and NICs.’ Comment We had hoped that the Autumn Statement would give us an indication of where [...]
Income Tax Devolution for Wales
Tuesday, November 20th, 2012Currently, the devolved government administration to the Welsh Assembly means that Assembly Members (AMs) can set legislation and direct the way that money is spent in the Principality, however, they do not have powers to set the necessary revenue-generating income tax. Welsh Assembly funds come in the form of an annual payment from HM Treasury. [...]
Married Couples’ Allowance – Not This Parliament
Tuesday, November 6th, 2012Kenneth Clark, Minister with Portfolio, has indicated that spouses may not get the married couples’ tax break that may have been expected under a Conservative-led Coalition. He said ‘we never committed ourselves to the married couples’ tax by the end of the Parliament’. However, the manifesto actually said: We will recognise marriage and civil partnerships [...]
Employee Rights Exchange for Capital Gains Tax Benefits (2)
Tuesday, October 23rd, 2012On 16 October 2012, we announced that George Osborne, Chancellor of the Exchequer, announced proposals at the Conservative Party Conference for ‘owner-employer’ contracts. Under these contracts, employees would gain a Capital Gains Tax exemption for shares given to them in exchange for sacrificing some UK employment rights. On 18 October 2012, the Department for Business, [...]
Employment Rights Exchange for Capital Gains Tax Benefits
Tuesday, October 16th, 2012On 08 October 2012, George Osborne announced an upcoming consultation on ‘owner-employee contracts’. Under these proposals, an owner-employee would be able to gain Capital Gains Tax exemption on up to £50,000 of company shares, in exchange for sacrificing some of their UK employment rights. ‘Companies of any size will be able to use this new [...]
Wealthiest to Pay More – Danny Alexander
Tuesday, September 25th, 2012The Chief Secretary to the Treasury has revealed in a newspaper interview that people with assets over £1 million are to become part of a HMRC crackdown on tax avoidance. HMRC’s Affluence Unit (AU) currently only reviews the tax affairs of individuals with assets over £2.5 million. The number of staff in this unit is [...]
Wealth Tax – Nick Clegg
Tuesday, September 25th, 2012The current Deputy Prime Minister and leader of the Liberal Democrats has, again, stated that he believes in a ‘Wealth Tax’ in addition to HMRC’s tax avoidance strategy via the Affluence Unit. Indeed, he has suggested that his party’s support in the Coalition for the spending review in 2015/16 will be dependent on its introduction, [...]
Week 53 Payments (Again)
Tuesday, September 18th, 2012HMRC’s Weekly Update Number 132 contained an article relating to underpayments of tax where the employer has operated a Week 53. The article confirmed previous reports from The Learn Centre that, whilst an employee may be entitled to 53 weekly pay adjustments via PAYE, they are only entitled to 52 in the legislation. In these [...]
Think Tank Urges End to ‘Tax Let-Offs’ for Rich Pensioners
Monday, September 17th, 2012An independent think-tank, the Centre Forum, has published a report urging the Government to consider ending ‘tax-let offs’ for wealthy pensioners. ‘Tax Justice Whatever your Age’, reports that, if age-specific tax breaks exist, they should not be directed to retired people, however, should be focused on the young. It is the younger generation, attempting to [...]
Wealthy to Pay More Tax, says Nick Clegg
Monday, September 3rd, 2012On his return from a fortnight’s family holiday in Spain, Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg has suggested that his party want to progress their thoughts on a ‘mansion tax’. In an interview with the Guardian newspaper, as a result of a deeper and longer recession than expected, Mr Clegg’s ‘time-limited’ emergency tax would ask the [...]
FAQ – Why could there be 53 payments in a tax year and how do we handle the payments?
Monday, August 20th, 2012It is essential that the relevant tax Week or Month is applied to payments in the payroll system. For determining in which tax period a payday falls, an employee’s payday is the earlier of: the date on which the payment is actually made, and the date on which the employee is contractually entitled to be [...]
FAQ – Some of our employees have been notified of tax underpayments as a result of a Week 53 situation in the previous tax year. Why could this be?
Monday, August 20th, 2012Since tax started to be collected via PAYE, the system has had to make adjustments for the fact that there are these additional paydays in a tax year. The fact remains, however, that tax is due on the taxable pay paid in this extra pay period and, likewise, this is assessable to tax. To ensure [...]
