All Tax and legislation articles – Page 42
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Article
Government confirms state pension brought forward to 2016
Budget 2013: Chancellor George Osborne has confirmed that the government will bring forward its plans to introduce a new single-tier £144 per week state pension by one year.As Employee Benefits previously reported Osborne first announced the changes on 17 March on BBC’s Andrew Marr Show.The new state pension was originally ...
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Article
HMRC to relax RTI payroll reporting for small employers
HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) has relaxed real-time information (RTI) reporting arrangements for small employers.Employers with fewer than 50 employees will have until 5 October 2013, rather than 6 April 2013, to comply with the legislation.Until the revised date, these employers will be able to send information to HMRC by ...
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Article
Single-tier state pension brought forward to 2016
The government is to bring forward its plans to introduce a new single-tier £144 per week state pension by one year.On the BBC’s Andrew Marr Show on 17 March, Chancellor George Osborne said the new state pension would be introduced in 2016 rather than 2017 as originally planned.He added: “People ...
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Article
HMRC warns employers about RTI
HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) is reminding employers about real-time information (RTI) reporting, one month before the legislation takes effect on 6 April.From that date, employers will be required to move to a new way of reporting pay-as-you-earn (PAYE), doing so each time employees are paid rather than annually.HMRC suggests ...
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Article
Employee owners to receive CGT relief
Budget 2013: The government has announced it will fund the introduction of a capital gains tax (CGT) relief on the sale of a controlling interest in an organisation into an employee ownership structure.The government will fund the CGT relief, which it aims to introduce in the Finance Bill 2014 in ...
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Article
European Union agrees cap on bankers’ bonuses
The European Commission and the European Parliament have reached a preliminary agreement on limiting bonus payments in the financial services sector.The cap will limit bankers’ bonuses to one-time salary, or two-times salary if a majority of shareholders agree. There will be some leeway for long-term incentives, although the details of ...
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Article
ABI publishes code of conduct for annuities
The Association of British Insurers (ABI) will implement its code of conduct for annuities on 1 March.The ABI Code of conduct on retirement choices aims to help people who buy an annuity each year better understand their options at retirement, choose the right annuity for their circumstances and shop around ...
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Article
Employers must get up to speed on RTI
This is despite the fact that, from April 2013, employers must report pay-as-you-earn (PAYE) in real time to HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) when they perform a payroll process, rather than waiting until the end of the year.Last month, Crunch Accounting’s study of 503 people working in small businesses found ...
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Opinion
Barbara Allen: Disclosure will aid pay transparency
The Enterprise and Regulatory Reform Bill, now passing through Parliament, includes a requirement for quoted UK companies to produce a new forward-looking remuneration policy report and a backward-looking implementation report.The forward-looking report will set out the key elements of an employer’s policy on remuneration, including performance measures used, and the ...
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Article
Consultations launched on pension disclosure rules
The Department for Work and Pensions has launched a consultation, which proposes to harmonise, simplify and consolidate the regulations surrounding the disclosure of pension scheme information.The consultation, The occupational and personal pension schemes (disclosure of information) regulations 2013, outlines draft regulations and will be open until 14 April 2013.It is ...
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Article
Tax relief awarded in bonus repayment case
The First-Tier Tribunal has found that an employee repaying a signing bonus should receive tax relief because the repayment amounted to ‘negative pay’ for the employee.Julian Martin was awarded a signing bonus of £250,000 in 2005/06 by his employer JLT Risk Solutions with the provision that he would stay with ...
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Article
Bonus deferral could have tax implications
Employers considering offering the deferral of bonuses may need to seek written agreement from employees.A number of organisations, including Aon, Tullett Prebon and Virgin Media, are offering employees the opportunity to defer bonuses until after 6 April 2013 to allow them to take advantage of the change to top-rate tax, ...
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Article
MOD firefighters and police could retire at 60
Ministry of Defence (MOD) firefighters and police could be able to retire at age 60 following amendments to the Public Service Pensions Bill.MOD firefighters and police currently have to work until age 68 before they receive their pension, but the House of Lords has agreed two amendments to the bill. ...
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Article
Half of employers do not see RTI benefits
Just under half of employer respondents do not see the benefits of real-time information (RTI) reporting, according to research by the Forum of Private Business (FPB).The latest Referendum study, carried out quarterly among FPB members, found that 17% of respondents saw the overall benefits of RTI and 27% saw the ...
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Opinion
Susan Ball: In pursuit of trivial benefits
When can a benefit be exempt from tax? When HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) decides it’s trivial enough not to pursue, is the answer. But be warned. The term ‘trivial’ can be subjective because there is no statutory limit below which benefits are not taxable. You need to consider if ...
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Article
Flat-rate state pension may cause DB rethink
Plans also include the abolition of contracting out, which would mean a rise in national insurance contributions (NICs) for employers and employees with defined benefit (DB) pension schemes.Malcolm McLean, consultant at Barnett Waddingham, said: “Many private sector employers are expected to want to claw back the extra money they have ...
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Article
Employers make bonus choices as tax rate changes
Last month, after a media outcry, Goldman Sachs decided not to defer staff bonuses from 2009, 2010 and 2011 to make the most of higher-rate income tax being reduced from 50% to 45% in April.But, on 21 January, insurance broker Aon said that it had offered senior staff this option ...
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Article
Legislation changes on the way in 2013
Catherine Wilson, partner at Thomas Eggar, said a number of statutory maximum awards will increase in February, such as the cap on compensation awards for unfair dismissal and statutory redundancy pay, based on a week’s pay, which will rise to £450.In March, unpaid statutory parental leave will rise from 13 ...
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Article
Single-tier pension to benefit women and low earners
Reforms to the state pension will particularly benefit women who take time out to bring up a family and low earners, according to figures published by the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP).Its Impact assessment on the single tier, published 18 January, also showed that more than half of over-25s ...
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Article
Government proposes pay cap for unfair dismissal awards
The government has published its proposals to reduce the number of workplace disputes that end up at employment tribunals.The proposals, which were announced by employment relations minister Jo Swinson, include the introduction of a 12-month pay cap on the compensatory award for unfair dismissal, as well as the establishment of ...