All Tax and legislation articles – Page 33
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ArticleGovernment to abolish short service pension refunds
The government is to abolish short service pension refunds for employees who leave an employer after less than two years’ service.Under current arrangements, a member of an occupational pension scheme that leaves having completed more than three months but less than two years’ qualifying service may be entitled to receive ...
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ArticleNestle employee liable for tax on payment in lieu of benefit
A former Nestle employee’s has been ruled to be liable for the tax on a lump sum payment received in exchange for giving up membership of the organisation’s healthcare scheme.While Mr Forsyth was employed by the organisation, the claimant was a member of its healthcare scheme. Although this membership ceased ...
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ArticleEmployee fails to win claim for outstanding sick pay
An employee has appealed against the initial ruling in an unfair dismissal case, Mr Clutch Auto Centres v Blakemore.The employment tribunal ruled that the claimant was still an employee of the respondent, despite the claimant arguing that he had been wrongfully dismissed and the respondent claiming that he had resigned. ...
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ArticleCourt rules employers are liable for lost pension rights
Employers could be liable to pay pension contributions to employees that are found to have been unfairly dismissed and have lost out on pension rights as a result.However, in such cases, employers must also be aware of the types of tribunal guidance on which such calculations can be based, the ...
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ArticleEqual pay audits and antenatal rights to come into force
Several pieces of new employment legislation will come into force tomorrow (1 October 2014).From this date, employers can be required by employment tribunals to conduct and publish equal pay audits if they are judged to have breached the equal pay provisions of the latest Equality Act.Ingrid Waterfield, a director in ...
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ArticleOTS benefits simplification reforms not likely until 2017
The Office for Tax Simplification (OTS) is simplifying the way employee benefits and expenses are taxed but some of the reforms could be unlikely until 2017.Speaking at Employee Benefits Live 2014 on 24 September John Witting, tax director at OTS, said: “We are looking for opinions and views on issues ...
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ArticleFord justified in not paying enhanced paternity pay
An employment tribunal has ruled that car manufacturer Ford was justified in not paying enhanced paternity pay to a male employee during additional paternity leave.In the case of Shuter v Ford Motor Company, an employment tribunal ruled that the organisation was not obliged to provide enhanced pay incircumstances where it ...
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ArticleFemale professor loses equal pay appeal
A female University of London professor has lost a sex discrimination case against her employer after it was found that her male colleagues’ bonus payments were retention fees, despite her claim that the university’s genuine material factor defence was tainted.The claimant was appointed to the university in 1996 and claimed ...
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ArticleReward teams can learn from banking pay issues
Jane Richards (pictured), remuneration specialist at Investec, is to speak about the challenges of setting reward and pay policies for employees in the banking sector at Employee Benefits Live.The session, titled ‘Pay strategies in today’s economic climate’, will look at these challenges in the context of the EU and UK ...
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ArticleCourts must recognise disability test
The Employment Appeal Tribunal (EAT) has allowed an appeal against a claim of disability discrimination after the Employment Tribunal (ET) failed to recognise whether the claimant’s stress, anxiety and depression in the workplace could consider her disabled.The EAT found in Fathers v Pets At Home that the ET had erred ...
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OpinionJillian Naylor: Severe obesity and employers’ benefit offerings
As a nation, we are getting bigger: 24% of the population is currently obese [Statistics on obesity, physical activity and diet – England, 2014, Health and Social Care Information Centre, February 2014] and NHS costs for dealing with obesity are estimated at £5 billion a year [Reducing obesity and improving ...
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ArticleWhat employers need to know about calculating holiday pay
In July, the Confederation of British Industry (CBI) warned that these costs could run into billions of pounds and could even bankrupt some organisations. Katja Hall, deputy director-general at the CBI, said: “Moving the legal goalposts in this way is unacceptable.“We need the UK government to take a strong stand ...
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ArticleRound-up of tax and legislation changes in summer 2014
Here is a round-up of legislative and tax changes announced this summer:The government published its draft Taxation of Pensions Bill, which provides further details about how people can access defined contribution pension savings flexibly from April 2015. The government confirmed that National Savings and Investments and HM Revenue and Customs ...
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ArticleEmployee benefits trusts closed to tax avoidance
A tribunal has closed a tax avoidance scheme which routed the profits of a tax advisory business through employee benefits trusts (EBTs). HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) challenged tax deductions of almost £9 million which tax advisor John Dryburgh’s organisations, Scotts Atlantic Management and Scotts Film Management paid into EBTs.Employee ...
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ArticleUnmissable benefits tax keynote at EB Live
Delegates at Employee Benefits Live 2014 can find out all they need to know about the tax changes impacting benefits in a keynote session on 24 September.In the session titled ‘Business critical tax and legislation changes impacting benefits’, John Whiting (pictured), tax director at the Office of Tax Simplification (OTS), ...
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ArticleHMRC to withdraw employee benefit trust settlement opportunity
Employers that used an employee benefit trust (EBT) before 6 April 2011 must notify HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) by 31 March 2015 if they wish to take advantage of the beneficial terms of the EBT settlement opportunity (EBTSO) to settle the resulting pay-as-you-earn (PAYE) and national insurance contributions (NICs) ...
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ArticleInvestec Bank wins £6m bonus claim
Investec Bank has won a £6-million bonus claim against two former employees.The High Court rejected the claim by Andrew Brogden, former head, and Robert Reid, deputy head, of its structured equity desk.The pair had claimed that their 2010/11 bonus had been pre-agreed in an oral contract with the organisation and ...
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ArticleGovernment launches review of taxation on travel and subsistence expenses
The government has launched the first stage of its review into the taxation of travel and subsistence expenses, which it announced in the 2014 Budget in March.The consultation follows the Office of Tax Simplification’s (OTS) report, Review of employee benefits and expenses: second report, which was published in January 2014.The ...
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ArticleBank of England consults on bankers' bonuses
The Prudential Regulation Authority (PRA) and Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) have published two joint consultation papers aimed at improving individual responsibility and accountability in the banking sector.One of the consultation papers, Strengthening the alignment of risk and reward: new remuneration rules, include proposals for the introduction of new rules on ...
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ArticleEAT to hear three cases on holiday pay
The Employment Appeal Tribunal (EAT) is to hear three cases on holiday pay on 30 July.The hearing follows two recent decisions around holiday pay.In June 2014, the European Court of Justice (ECJ) ruled that an employee who dies with outstanding holiday pay should be paid this after their death.In May ...