All Tax and legislation articles – Page 32
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ArticlePersonal allowance increases to £11,000
Summer Budget 2015: The tax-free personal allowance will increase to £11,000 a year, Chancellor George Osborne announced during his Summer Budget speech today (8 July).In 2016-17, employees who earn up to £11,000 a year will not pay income tax. The new tax-free personal allowance threshold represents an increase of £400. ...
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ArticleStay up-to-date with the Budget
Chancellor George Osborne will unveil the Summer Budget at 12:30pm today (8 July). Make sure you stay tuned to the Employee Benefits website for the latest news and updates following the announcement.Employee Benefits will be covering all aspects of the Budget impacting employee benefits, such as pensions, healthcare, pay and ...
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ArticleHigh Court closes two firms over pension savings scam
The High Court has wound up two organisations for operating an £11.9 million misleading pensions liberation scheme.Clients were encouraged to use their pension savings to buy shares in Liverpool-based KJK Investments, which would then increase by 6% in value each year.The 209 clients were also told to obtain a loan ...
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ArticleCompensation for discrimination claim not taxable
Compensation received by an employee to settle a discrimination claim is not taxable as earnings, a tribunal has ruled.A v The Commissioners for HMRC involved a dispute over whether a payment of £600,000 made under a compromise agreement should be taxed as “earnings” or whether it could be paid tax ...
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ArticleCompliance developments impacting benefits in May
The Pensions Regulator (TPR) issued its first four escalated auto-enrolment penalties, which range from £50 to £10,000 a day depending on the severity of the breach.The Employment Appeal Tribunal (EAT) ruled that employers are not always required to make reasonable adjustments and create the ideal job for an employee returning ...
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Article?Redundancy near pensionable age could be age discrimination
The Employment Appeal Tribunal (EAT) has returned a case to a tribunal for a re-hearing to consider whether redundancy dismissal, where the timing meant an employer avoided significant pension costs, could amount to age discrimination. In the case of Sturmey v Weymouth and Portland Borough Council, it is being considered ...
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ArticleQueen's Speech confirms legislation on tax and NI
The Queen has confirmed that legislation will be brought forward by government to ensure there are no rises on income tax, value-added tax (VAT) or national insurance for five years. The move, which was first announced in the Conservative Party’s election manifesto, was one of the measures announced in the ...
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ArticleBritish Gas appeals holiday pay decision
The appeal comes from the employer and its law firm Eversheds after an employment tribunal ruling in March found that commission must be included when employers calculate holiday pay.In the case of Lock v British Gas, the tribunal ruled that the Working Time Regulations should be read to ensure commission ...
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Article
Developments impacting benefits in April
Exceptions meaning employers will not be not required to auto-enrol individuals who are leaving employment, staff who cancel membership of a pension scheme before automatic enrolment and those with tax-protected status for existing pension savings have been proposed under government draft legislationThe Employment Appeal Tribunal (EAT) ruled that type-two diabetes, ...
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ArticleJust 1% plan to spend entire pension pot on luxuries
Just 1% of staff aged 50-75 plan to spend all their pension pot on luxuries, according to research by PricewaterhouseCoopers (PWC).The study, which surveyed 1,200 UK adults aged between 50 and 75 years, also found that just over a quarter (27%) of respondents intend to spend some of their retirement ...
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ArticleLegislation and tax changes that took effect from 6 April 2015
On 6 April 2015, a number of changes to tax and legislation impacting employee benefits came into effect.The full list of changes are:Pensions:Individuals over the age of 55 now have access to their defined contribution (DC) pension savings in full. Employees can take their savings as cash, enter drawdown or ...
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ArticleEAT rules controlled type 2 diabetes is not a disability
The Employment Appeal Tribunal (EAT) has ruled that type 2 diabetes which is controlled by diet and does not have a substantial adverse effect on an employee’s day-to-day activities does not amount to disability discrimination.In the case of Metroline Travel v Stoute, the claimant was a bus driver who suffered ...
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OpinionJacqueline Reid: Will independent governance committees bridge the governance gap between trust and contract-based pensions?
Following increased government scrutiny of defined contribution pensions, providers of contract-based pension arrangements will have to introduce and maintain independent governance committees (IGCs) from April 2015. These changes apply to personal or stakeholder pensions run by firms regulated under financial services legislation but not to occupational trust-based schemes.In a trust-based ...
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ArticleTrivial benefits in kind deferred from 2015 Finance Bill
A proposals to introduce a statutory tax exemption for trivial benefits in kind (BIK) on spends up to £50 has been dropped from the Finance Bill 2015.With the deferral of the exemption, employers will need to continue to rely on imprecise guidance and informal agreements with HM Revenue and Customs ...
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ArticleKey Budget changes to employee benefits
Chancellor George Osborne announced the last Budget before the general election on 18 March 2015.Here is a round up of all the key announcements impacting employee benefits:The personal tax allowance will be increased to £10,800 from April 2016, and to £11,000 from April 2017. The allowance, which is the amount ...
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ArticlePensions lifetime allowance to reduce to £1m
Budget 2015: The government has announced that it will reduce the pensions lifetime allowance (LTA) limit to £1 million from 6 April 2016.It was also announced that from 2018, the limit will be index-linked and adjusted according to the level of inflation.The current lifetime allowance has stood at £1.25 million ...
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ArticleTax exemption introduced for DB to DC transfer advice
Budget 2015: The government is introducing an income tax exemption for payments made for advice on transfers out of defined benefit (DB) schemes to defined contribution (DC) pension schemes.The new measure, announced as part of Chancellor George Osborne’s 2015 Budget, will apply to any employer that provides or pays for ...
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ArticleGovernment to increase tax threshold for higher-rate taxpayers
Budget 2015: The government is to increase the point at which higher-rate taxpayers must start to pay 40% tax, Chancellor George Osborne has announced.It will increase by £315 in 2016-2017, and by £600 in 2017-2018. This will take the higher-rate tax threshold to £43,300 by 2017-2018.
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ArticlePersonal tax allowance to rise to £11,000
Budget 2015: The personal tax allowance will be increased to £10,800 from April 2016, and to £11,000 from April 2017, Chancellor George Osborne has announced during the 2015 Budget.The allowance, which is the amount employees can earn before they have to start paying tax, will enable the average taxpayer to ...
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ArticleNational minimum wage to rise by 3%
The national minimum wage will increase by 3% to £6.70 an hour from October 2015.The increase is equivalent to an additional 20p an hour for workers aged 21 and over, from its current rate of £6.50 an hourThis will be the largest increase to the national minimum wage in real-terms ...