Introduction The following information is to help you ensure that your payroll is kept up to date each month in readiness for finishing the Tax Year. It also gives useful advice on what may cause issues and how to avoid them. Tax Reference Reconciliation Summary It is best practice to reconcile your payroll reconciliation summary … Continue reading Preparing to Finish the 23/24 Tax Year
Category: News
The government announced on January 16th that they are taking steps to simplify and modernize parts of the tax system. They plan to use digital services to increase public sector productivity and are looking for more ways to make the tax system simpler and fairer. Need help? Click here to get in touch Mandating the … Continue reading Payrolling benefits mandatory from April 2026
Holiday pay is an employer responsibility. Is your company compliant with holiday pay regulations? Introducing the Holiday Pay Compliance Checker. Stay ahead of the curve and avoid any potential compliance issues with this change. The law changed on the 1st January 2024, prompting The Department for Business and Trade to publish new guidance. The main … Continue reading Holiday Pay Compliance Checker
The following is a brief announcement regarding the opening hours of HMRC during the festive season. Please note that the normal hours of operation will resume on January 3rd, 2024. DateAvailabilityFriday 22 December 2023Open from 8:30am to 4pmMonday 25 December 2023ClosedTuesday 26 December 2023ClosedWednesday 27 December 2023Open from 8:30am to 6pmThursday 28 December 2023Open from … Continue reading HMRC Christmas Opening Dates
The UK government has announced a series of tax cuts and spending measures to attempt to boost growth and living standards in its 'Autumn Statement for Growth'. Chancellor Jeremy Hunt said the plan would reward work, help businesses invest, and level up the country. The key policies include a 2% cut to employee National Insurance … Continue reading Budget Announcement Statement
The Government has accepted the recommendations of the Low Pay Commission (LPC) on the minimum wage rates for 2024. The LPC is an independent body that advises the Government on the minimum wage. The new rates are shown below. NMW rate from 1 April 2024Increase in pencePercentage increaseNational Living Wage (21 and over)£ 11.44£ 1.029.8%18-20 … Continue reading National Minimum Wage Raise
For holiday years starting on or after 1st April 2024, Employers will be permitted to calculate annual leave entitlement as 12.07% of the hours worked in a pay period for irregular hours workers and part-year workers in the first year of employment and beyond. This does not apply to workers with regular hours who continue … Continue reading New Rolled Up Holiday Pay Options
The much awaited government consultation on annual leave pay and entitlement has been released today. The government intends to reverse some of the changes we have seen to holiday legislation over the past 20 years, find out the details below. The main takeaways are: 12.07% calculation of entitlement is set to resurface but only for … Continue reading A return trip?
10% increase in the real Living Wage as cost of living continues to hit low paid workers the hardest Over 460,000 Living Wage workers are set for a pay boost as 14,000 Living Wage employers are signed up to pay the new rates The new real Living Wage rates are now worth over £3,000 more per … Continue reading Real Living Wage increases to £12 in UK and £13.15 in London
Today, the Supreme Court released the historic PSNI v Agnew judgment. The case relates to police officers who claimed they had been historically underpaid whilst taking holiday. The crux of the issue decided was: how far back a holiday pay claim can be made? What was the existing law? Previously the law relied on the … Continue reading Excess Baggage?
The Chancellor is set to confirm that National Living Wage will be "at least £11 per hour." At the Conservative conference today, the Chancellor is expected to announce a rise in National Living Wage - the highest band of National Minimum Wage - to over eleven pounds per hour. Full details of the new National … Continue reading Up to eleven
The government says that millions of workers will have a say over their working patterns as Workers (Predictable Terms and Conditions) Bill achieves Royal Assent. Law gives all workers the legal right to request a predictable working pattern encouraging workers to begin conversations with their employers. Workers right across the country will potentially be given … Continue reading Predictable Outcome?
HMRC data shows that a size-able number of employers are applying the wrong tax relief basis to their workplace pension scheme. Some pension scheme members are consequently receiving double reliefs (within payroll and the pension scheme) they are not entitled to, others receiving reliefs when salary sacrifices are being operated (being reported as employee contributions … Continue reading Pensions: Net or Not?
During the National Payroll Week, the Chancellor of the Exchequer, Jeremy Hunt, announced on 5th September 2023 that he will present the Autumn Statement 2023 to Parliament on 22nd November. The treasury confirm that the Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) have been commissioned to prepare an economic and fiscal forecast to be presented to Parliament … Continue reading Autumn Statement set for 22nd November 2023
HM Revenue and Customers have release information on the change to the SAYE bonus rates application from 18th August 2023. Following the launch of the new SAYE bonus rates automatic mechanism and specimen Save As You Earn (SAYE) prospectus as set out in Employer Related Securities Bulletin 51 (May 2023), new SAYE bonus rates and early leaver rate will apply from 18th August … Continue reading Save As You Earn Bonus Rates from 18th August 2023
According to an HMRC promotion, they have acknowledged that over two million new employees who started a new job in 2022 were placed on the wrong tax code! They urge employers to obtain a P45 or a completed and correct starter checklist in time and ready to operate in the first payment of wages. Failure … Continue reading Over 2 million new starters on wrong tax code
Over 200 employers are today (21 June 2023) being named by government for failing to pay their lowest paid staff the minimum wage. The 202 employers were found to have failed to pay their workers almost £5 million in a clear breach of National Minimum Wage (NMW) law, leaving around 63,000 workers out of pocket.
The Government has released a policy paper, 'Smarter regulation to grow the economy', detailing plans to change legislation in the future. One element which the policy paper focuses on is the Working Time Regulations. The Working Time Regulations, which are derived from retained EU legislation, provide a number of valuable worker protections. However, some claim … Continue reading Annual Leave Peeve
Millions of UK workers will take home an estimated £200 million more of their hard-earned cash, as employers are banned from withholding tips under the Employment (Allocation of Tips) Act 2023, which today (Tuesday 2 May) received Royal Assent.
Are you entitled to the Monday 8th Bank Holiday off? Check out our guide.
The National Living Wage (NLW) increases on Saturday 1 April by 9.7 per cent to £10.42, providing a pay rise to millions of workers aged 23 and over across the UK. 21-22 year olds will see their pay increase by 10.9 per cent to £10.18 per hour while pay for younger workers and apprentices will also rise by 9.7 per cent.
The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP)…confirmed it will support proposals to expand Automatic Enrolment, enabling millions of people to save more and to start saving earlier. Jonathan Gullis MP’s Private Members Bill, backed today by the government, grants two extensions to Automatic Enrolment – abolishing the Lower Earnings Qualifying Threshold for contributions and reducing … Continue reading Pension Auto-Enrolment Bill passed to expand to both young and low earners
The HM Revenue and Customs Software Developer Support Team have confirmed changes to the acceptable P11D submission due from 6th April 2023 and onwards. Although paper forms may still be issued to relevant employees as a copy, the submission of paper forms to HMRC is no longer permitted. In a message to software developers entitled: Subject: PAYE … Continue reading No more Paper P11Ds to HMRC
Tax rebate firms are facing new regulations to prevent abuse of the 'assignment' system.
Historic underpayments of annual leave are dealt with differently in Northern Ireland compared to the rest of the UK. A new court case seeks to disrupt the law and bring unity to the UK. See our analysis of the situation below.
I am pleased to be able to let you know that I have today [26th January 2023] announced the outcome of the review of the Automatic Enrolment Earnings Trigger and Qualifying Earnings Band for 2023/24. The thresholds will be maintained at their 2022/23 values: The automatic enrolment earnings trigger will remain at £10,000; The lower earnings limit … Continue reading Pension AE Thresholds Frozen for April 2023
The Home Office have asked if the SD Work Knowledge Centre would share the following information with its readership. 1 March 2023 We are writing to inform you that the ‘Employer’s guide to right to work checks’ available on GOV.UK has been updated: The most significant updates relate to: clarification for employers on the use … Continue reading Right to Work update: Employer’s guidance
The Scottish Budget 2023-2024 was presented to the Scottish Parliament on Thursday 15 December 2022.
HM Revenue and Customs has informed employers as part of the February 2023 Employer Bulletin of changes to reporting benefits. Employers must register now Reporting expenses and benefits for the tax year ending 5th April 2023 From 6th April 2023 HMRC will no longer accept new informal payrolling benefits arrangements. For those employers who have informal payrolling … Continue reading Major changes to reporting benefits
Chancellor Jeremy Hunt released the details of the Autumn Statement today. See the main points here.
Monday 8th May, following His Majesty King Charles III’s Coronation on 6th May, will be a national bank holiday. This bank holiday will operate in the same way as other bank holidays, and there is no statutory entitlement to time off. Employers may include bank holidays as part of a worker’s leave entitlement. The bank holiday will take place across the United Kingdom.
The Prime Minister Rishi Sunak and the Chancellor Jeremy Hunt have agreed that the Autumn Statement will now be delivered on 17th November 2022 along with the Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) forecast. The statement will set out the United Kingdom’s medium term fiscal plan. [learn_press_profile]
Liz Truss has resigned as Leader of the Conservative Party, and by extension, Prime Minister.
Earlier today the Chancellor of the Exchequer, the Rt Hon Jeremy Hunt MP, brought forward a number of measures from 31 October’s Medium-Term Fiscal Plan. The measures are designed to ensure the UK’s economic stability and provide confidence in the government’s commitment to fiscal discipline.
Today, October 17th, Chancellor Jeremy Hunt has reversed many of the changes brought about by the September Mini-Budget. Markets reacted poorly to the September announcement, leading to spiraling interest rates.
The Prime Minister, Liz Truss, has confirmed that Corporation Tax will rise next April, in line with the previous government's plans.
The Chancellor has confirmed that the 'Medium-Term Fiscal Plan' (a Budget) will be announced on October 31st.
Prisoners in England have begun high-quality apprenticeships this week in a bid to cut crime following a change in the law.
Speaking earlier on BBC Breakfast, Kwarteng confirmed that after consultation with the Prime Minister, the controversial move would be reversed. Pressure had been growing over the last week from all sides of the political spectrum, as to the logic in cutting the 45% tax rate during a cost of living crisis.
The Chancellor today (Friday 23 September) unveiled his Growth Plan to release the huge potential in the British economy by tackling high energy costs and inflation and delivering higher productivity and wages.
Almost 400,000 people working for over 11,000 real Living Wage Employers throughout the country are set for a vital cost-of-living pay boost, as the new Living Wage rates rise to £10.90 an hour across the UK (£1 increase), and £11.95 an hour in London (90p increase), supporting workers and families. This year’s Living Wage rates have been brought forward in recognition of the sharp increase in living costs over the past year.
The 1.25 percentage point rise in National Insurance will be reversed from 6 November, the Chancellor Kwasi Kwarteng has announced today (22 September).
Monday 19 September, the date of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II’s State Funeral, will be a national bank holiday. This will allow individuals, businesses and other organisations to pay their respects to Her Majesty and commemorate Her reign, while marking the final day of the period of national mourning. This bank holiday will operate in the same way as other bank holidays, and there is no statutory entitlement to time off. Employers may include bank holidays as part of a worker’s leave entitlement. The bank holiday will take place across the United Kingdom.
Jersey propose a temporary reduction of 2% for the Class 1 Social Security contribution rate
The Government has announced plans to help prisoners learn the skills they need to stay on the straight and narrow as the latest phase of the government’s plan to deliver 20,000 new prison places gets underway.
The Department for Education (DfE) today (10 August 2022) confirmed annual updates to interest rates and repayment thresholds for Income Contingent Student Loans, and the interest rates and deferment threshold for Mortgage Style Student Loans.
Collective Defined Contribution pension schemes, or CDCs for short, will offer an alternative to the UK’s two primary pension scheme models, Defined Contribution (DC) and Defined Benefit (DB).
The Low Pay Commission (LPC) today publishes a report on non-compliance and enforcement of the minimum wage in Leicester’s textiles manufacturers. Since 2020, multiple agencies have carried out large-scale joint enforcement operations in Leicester, partly in response to persistent reports of exploitation and underpayment. Low Pay Commissioners heard evidence on the forces driving non-compliance and what enforcement bodies have found.
Today, 20th July, the United Kingdom Supreme Court has outlawed the 12.07% method for calculating holiday pay.
ExCeL London becomes Accredited Living Wage Employer The Royal Docks receives formal recognition from the Living Wage Foundation for Making a Living Wage Place Key step in Mayor Khan’s plan to Make London a Living Wage CityAim of increasing the number of Royal Docks accredited Living Wage Employers by 50% by 2025 Community-led Royal Docks … Continue reading ROYAL DOCKS SEEKS TO EXCEL AS A LIVING WAGE PLACE