Home - Payroll News
- Recent HR News
- FREE Newsletter
- Payroll and HR FAQs
- Payroll Forum
- Payroll Calendars
- Payroll Tools
- Monthly Brain Teaser
- The Authors
- About Us
- Contact us
Uncategorized
New National Insurance Contributions Bill confirms new NICs rates from April
Wednesday, October 20th, 2010The 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 [...]
Does the three-month period for making an unfair dismissal claim start on the date of the employer’s decision to dismiss or from when the employee becomes aware of the decision?
Wednesday, October 20th, 2010In a decision given on 13 October 2010 in the case Gisda Cyf v Barratt, the UK Supreme Court dismissed an appeal by the employer that a claim of unfair dismissal had been made out of time, ruling that the three-month period for making such a claim must run from the time that the employee [...]
The arguments for extending the right to request flexible working to parents of all children under age 18
Wednesday, October 20th, 2010On 30 September, the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS) announced the Government’s plans to develop flexible, family-friendly workplaces, including: the extension of flexible working (i.e. the right to request a contractual change to working hours, times of work and place of work) to parents of children under age 18, from April 2011, and [...]
Double Taxation Agreement with Qatar enters into force
Wednesday, October 20th, 2010The Double Tax Agreement between the UK and the State of Qatar, signed on 25 June 2009, entered into force on 15 October 2010. It applies: from 1 January 2004 for profits, income and gains from shipping and air transport, from 1 January 2011 for taxes withheld at source, and for other taxes, in respect [...]
Latest HR News
Tuesday, October 19th, 2010Winter draws on! Well, it is certainly on the way so make sure that you are prepared for it as many employers find themselves taken short when the first cold snap occurs. Does the heating system work? Does it need a service? Do you have heaters in case of a power cut? Do you have [...]
Monthly Brain Teaser and September’s answer
Tuesday, October 19th, 2010Last month you were given this problem: Last month you were asked to determine, without using paper, pencils or calculators, how much earth there is in a trench that is 3 feet 3 inches wide, 2 feet 6 inches deep, and 10 yards long? The answer is of course – None. Otherwise it would not be [...]
Republic of Ireland Labour Court confirms increases to minimum rates for grocery workers in three instalments
Tuesday, October 5th, 2010The Labour Court has made a new Employment Regulations Order (ERO) fixing the statutory minimum rates of pay and statutory conditions of employment for workers in the scope of the Retail Grocery & Allied Trades Joint Labour Committee (JLC). The increases are to be applied in three instalments. For example, the hourly rate for general [...]
How is living accommodation reported used partly for business purposes?
Monday, September 27th, 2010Situations where the employer can apportion the costs, and where the employee must claim tax relief… The taxable value of the benefit of living accommodation can be restricted where a part of the property has genuine business use. There are two specific situations: a business property that has living accommodation attached, e.g. a flat above [...]
NI Number – RD3 Plastic card to be replace with a letter
Thursday, September 16th, 2010On 10 September, the Government announced that, with immediate effect, requests for replacement cards will be met by means of a printed letter and, from 2011, the plastic card will be replaced completely by a printed letter. The change is expected to save £100,000 in 2010/11 and up to £1 million each year thereafter. The [...]
Immigration Application Fees – Mid-year increases
Thursday, September 16th, 2010The UK Border Agency has announced proposals to increase immigration and nationality application fees for all those applying to visit, study, work or stay in the UK from October 2010 and, in some cases, from November 2010. Most of the changes relate to visas and nationality applications. The only increase that directly affects employers is [...]
HR Problem Page
Thursday, September 9th, 2010Here we take our weekly look at answering some of the tricky HR questions we’ve been emailed. If you have a tricky HR question you needs answering email it to help@payroll-help.com and we’ll post the best here with an answer each week. Disclosing employee’s birthday Some of my employees asked me to give them the date [...]
Who is actually disabled?
Thursday, September 9th, 2010We are sometimes asked “How do you deal with disabled people?”, and the answer we give is “As you would deal with other people”. If we have to explain further, we point out that most of us require a bit of help now and again to do our jobs, some of us more than others. [...]
Monthly Brain Teaser and last months answers
Thursday, September 9th, 2010Last month you were given this problem: A horse dealer in the wilds of the Pennines died, leaving in his will a herd of 60 horses, all of equal value. He left one third of the herd to his wife, one quarter to his eldest son, one fifth to his other son and one fifth [...]
Weekly Summary and Forum Highlights 003
Thursday, August 12th, 2010A number of this week’s news items are prompted by HMRC changes to the Employment Income Manual, the internal guidance for tax officers that is also made public for the benefit of agents, advisers and… writers. Of these five items, the one that is probably the most significant is the introduction by HMRC of a [...]
Identifying the correct tax charge for termination payments
Thursday, August 12th, 2010In order to identify correctly the tax charge that applies to the various types of termination payments, HMRC describes a procedure – a “logical sequence” – that must be followed in respect of each element of a termination package. Assuming first of all that a termination payment or benefit is not being made from an [...]
Cycle-to-Work schemes – Valuing cycles transferred to employees after a period of loan
Thursday, August 12th, 2010Many employers operate Cycle-to-Work schemes under which employees are loaned cycles and cyclists’ safety equipment and, to take advantage of the applicable tax exemption, payments are made by employees using a salary sacrifice arrangement. At the end of the loan period, no tax charge arises if the cycle and related equipment are sold to the [...]
Identifying salary sacrifice and flexible benefits schemes – Subsidised Meals Tax Exemption
Thursday, August 12th, 2010The principal conditions that must currently be met in order to take advantage of the tax exemption for the provision of subsidised meals, as set out in section 317 of ITEPA, are that the meals are provided on a reasonable scale, and all employees, or all of them at a particular location, may obtain a [...]
Car and Van Benefits – Changes to appropriate percentage calculations
Thursday, August 12th, 2010All of the changes to company car and van benefits, and to the related fuel benefits, from the current tax year up to 2014/15, such as the introduction of new charging provisions for zero emission cars and vans, low emission cars and ultra-low emission cars, have been made to the relevant pages in HMRC’s Employment [...]
What are the tax and NICs liabilities on parking, speeding and other fines?
Thursday, August 12th, 2010HMRC’s Employment Income Manual and National Insurance Manual give guidance on the tax and NICs liabilities that arise when an employer pays driving-related penalties and fines. Parking penalties and fines The liabilities in the different situations depend on three factors: the person in whose name the car is registered, who is liable for the fine, [...]
Latest HR News August 2010
Wednesday, August 11th, 2010The news on the block is that the government intends to remove the virtually compulsory retirement age of 65. Full details are not yet available but even so you are well advised to have a look at the people you employ who are close to or over age 65. Discuss with them what they intend [...]
