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Universal Credit
RTI and Incorrect Tax Codes
Oh dear. HMRC has admitted that real time exchange of data is creating new employment records and, as a result, the issue of incorrect tax codes. This all stems from incomplete alignment submissions that have been made in the following circumstances: Where the alignment process has only been completed in part by the [...]
Queen’s Speech 2013
At the start of the Parliamentary session, Her Majesty the Queen performs the State Opening, recalling both the House of Lords and the House of Commons. On 08 May 2013, she gave a speech that outlined the Government’s policies and proposed legislation programme for that session. Whilst it is read by the Queen, it [...]
RTI – The continuing saga – Part 1 – Unpaid Absence
Yet again HMRC have made a decision to make changes to the FPS reporting procedures which should have been foreseen many months ago during the pilot year. The change revolves around the Unpaid Absence field (153). Guidance on completion of this particular field has been sparse to [...]
Employment Tribunal and Employment Appeal Tribunal Fees
In November 2011, Business Secretary, Vince Cable, spoke of wide-ranging employment law. Part of this was the introduction of fees at Employment (ET) and Employment Appeal Tribunal (EAT). This was also discussed as part of a previous consultation, Resolving Workplace Disputes. The fee-charging regime is designed to minimise the cost of the ET and EAT [...]
Universal Credit but it Starts Small
The Universal Credit (UC) will eventually impact nearly 6 million people as a range of benefits are merged into one monthly household payment – Income Support, income-based Jobseeker’s Allowance, income-related Employment and Support Allowance, Housing Benefit, Child Tax Credit and Working Tax Credit. Iain Duncan-Smith started the massive shake-up to the Welfare system on 29 [...]
National Minimum Wage 2013/14
It is the Low Pay Commission (LPC), established in 1998, that advises the Government about the National Minimum Wage (NMW). In early 2012, the Government wrote to the LPC setting out their remit for their report on the NMW rates for 2013, i.e. from October 2013. The Government asked that the LPC continue to monitor [...]
RTI Reporting Easements for Small Employers
In our Budget Newsletter last week, we advised that HMRC have announced that, until 05 October 2013, employers with fewer than 50 employees who will have difficulty meeting the ‘on or before’ reporting requirement can report at the time of their regular payrun, as long as this is before the end of the tax Month [...]
The Children and Families Bill
The Children and Families Bill was introduced into the House of Commons on 04 February 2013 with a second reading later in the month. It is a legislative consolidation of a number of Government initiatives, all designed to improve services for vulnerable children, plus support families balancing their home / work lives. With particular interest [...]
High Income Child Benefit Charge
Effectively, Monday 07 January 2013 saw Child Benefit added to the list of other means-tested benefits by the introduction of the High Income Child Benefit Charge (the ‘Charge’). The Finance Act 2012 inserted the above Charge into Chapter 8 of the Income Tax (Earnings and Pensions) Act 2003. This imposed the new Charge on a [...]
RTI – Universal Credit Regulations 2013 Laid
The Universal Credit (UC) is a Government flagship initiative which, according to their own publicity, will streamline and simplify the benefits system and make work the more attractive and affordable option. On 10 December 2012, the Government laid The Universal Credit Regulations 2013 before Parliament. These were accompanied by Regulations for the Jobseeker’s Allowance and [...]
Draft Finance Bill 2013
The Government is committed to providing information on the measures in the Finance Bill at least three months prior to its introduction in Parliament and, where possible, the associated draft legislation. As such, HM Treasury have published their ‘Overview of Legislation in Draft’ (OLD) document together with Tax Information and Impact Note (TIIN) and Explanatory [...]
HMRC’s Chief Information Officer Steps Down
HMRC have announced that Phil Pavitt, Chief Information Officer, is stepping down to resume his career in the private sector at Aviva Insurance. He is expected to leave in January 2013 and Mark Hall has been appointed his successor. At Aviva, Mr Pavitt will be responsible for IT transformation. Since joining HMRC in 2009, Mr [...]
Flexible Parental Leave and Working
In May 2011, the Government published a consultation entitled ‘Consultation on Modern Workplaces’, which involved proposals in four areas: Flexible Parental Leave Flexible Working Working Time Regulations, and Equal Pay In June 2012, the Government published its response to topic 4 on Equal Pay and we have been eagerly waiting for responses to the other [...]
HMRC and DWP Personnel Changes
HMRC announced last week that Suzanne Newton had taken over responsibility as RTI Programme Director at HMRC. The previous incumbent, Mark Holden, followed his family in transferring overseas. Mr Holden oversaw the RTI initiative through the Controlled Go Live (CGL) and the first two pilot employer stages. Suzanne Newton has worked on the RTI project [...]
Nationality for RTI?
On 08 October 2012, Nicholas Soames, Conservative Member of Parliament for Mid Sussex, asked whether nationality information was being recorded for benefit applications. Mark Hoban, Employment Minister at the Department of Work and Pensions (DWP) responded that, currently, the DWP do not record the nationality of benefit claimants, as this is not a qualifying factor. [...]
Top Two United on the Universal Credit
Iain Duncan-Smith, Work and Pensions Secretary and George Osborne, Chancellor of the Exchequer, wrote a joint article in the Daily Mail at the weekend. In this, they made a number of statements, which are worth mentioning in this Newsletter: The DWP (Mr Duncan-Smith) and the Exchequer (Mr Osborne) are united in delivering the Universal Credit [...]
RTI – The ‘On or Before’ Issue
HMRC’s communication about Real Time Information (RTI) to all employers commences this month. In their letter, HMRC will be confirming that the main RTI submission, the Full Payment Submission (FPS), must be sent ‘on or before’ the time that employees are paid. As at 09 October 2012, their Website reads: Each time you pay an [...]
RTI – It’s Only Another Button
We refer to an article in The Independent for two reasons: The Right Honourable Iain Duncan Smith, Work and Pensions Secretary, has confirmed that the Universal Credit will be going ahead, despite concerns that it will be a monthly payment (in arrears), rather than the weekly or fortnightly benefits system that exists at the moment. [...]
RTI – HMRC Communicates
October will see HMRC starting to communicate with all employers for the first time about Real Time Information (RTI), the new tax regime that they will be expected to follow from April 2013. Many medium and large employers will already be aware of the changes, however, Steve Wade, Employment Tax Director at KPMG in the [...]
Real Time Information Pilot Update
There are conflicting reports in the last week regarding Real Time Information (RTI). On the one hand, the Guardian Newspaper reported on 16 September 2012 that the Universal Credit was beset with issues that would not be resolved before its go-live in October 2013. Further, there are concerns as to whether the HMRC and DWP [...]
