Category: Employer

Plans to remove the employment allowance for large employers from April 2020 could impact on smaller firms. This allowance provides employers with a reduction to their national insurance contributions (NICs) bill of up to £3,000. Employers that claim the allowance can carry it forward from one tax year to the next, but that will stop … Continued

Employer duties By law, the total minimum contributions your organisation must pay into its staff workplace pension schemes increase on 6 April 2019. You need to be ready for this increase, and make sure you’re set up to pay the correct amounts into staff pension schemes – so you comply with the law, and your … Continued

From the 6th April 2019 there will be new rules which will change how you issue payslips to workers. Previously, only your staff classed as employees needed to get written itemised payslips. You didn’t need to itemise payslips for any staff classed as workers. The difference between employees and workers An employee is someone who … Continued

Fines issued to employers that fail to comply with their auto-enrolment responsibilities have more than doubled over the last two years, a report from the Pensions Regulator shows. In 2017/18, there were 36,137 fines issued to employers for not complying with the requirements of auto-enrolment – up from 14,707 such penalties in 2016/17. The Pensions … Continued

Businesses are finally beginning to understand the apprenticeship levy, after previously voicing serious concerns over its complexity and lack of flexibility. The apprenticeship levy took effect on 6 April 2017 and means businesses with an annual pay bill of more than £3 million must pay the levy towards apprenticeship funding. It is charged at 0.5% … Continued

Contractors could face a higher tax bill from April 2020 when reforms to IR35 legislation are set to take effect in the private sector. This is expected to raise more than £3 billion between 2020 and 2024, as self-employed individuals who fall within the rules, and the businesses engaging them, will face a higher tax … Continued

Automatic enrolment is a continuing process for employers – it doesn’t end once they’ve put their staff into a workplace pension. There are ongoing responsibilities you will need to complete after you’ve submitted your declaration of compliance. To stay compliant, you will need to: assess the age and earnings of their staff who aren’t enrolled … Continued

Chancellor Philip Hammond has announced a package of new measures to reform the under-fire apprenticeship levy. Under the revised rules, employers who pay the apprenticeship levy will be able to transfer a quarter of their funds to organisations in their supply chain, including smaller employers. Levy-paying businesses have been able to transfer up to 10% … Continued

The number of people starting apprenticeships has dropped by 31% in the last 12 months, the Department for Education has claimed. In the academic year between August 2017 and May 2018 there were 315,900 apprenticeship starts, compared to 457,200 the same time the year before. Business groups including the British Chambers of Commerce (BCC) and … Continued

Working pensioners are on course to pay £8.6 billion in income tax in 2018/19, according to Aegon. The number of pensioner households containing at least one person working beyond their state pension age increased from 12% in 1997/98 to an estimated 17% in 2018/19. Aegon estimates there are around 12.8 million people living in 8.7 … Continued