All Tax and legislation articles – Page 43
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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 ...
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Article
Gove confirms performance-related pay for teachers
Education minister Michael Gove has confirmed the implementation of performance-related pay (PRP) for teachers.This follows recommendations from the School Teachers’ Review Body (STRB), which were published in February 2012 and called on the government to link teachers’ pay more closely to their performance.In May 2012, Gove submitted evidence to the ...
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Article
New flat rate state pension is announced
This afternoon the government announced plans to introduce a new flat-rate state pension.The new state pension will come into effect from 2017 as part of a reform package to be announced to Parliament today.At today’s prices it will be worth around £144 a week and will only be paid to ...
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Article
Providers agree to disclose pension charges
The Association of British Insurers (ABI) has announced an agreement to ensure the consistent and straightforward disclosure of pension charges and costs to employees in workplace pension schemes.The agreement will be implemented by the summer of 2014 for schemes that arenewly established for auto-enrolment, and for all older workplace pension ...
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Article
Benefits cap rise limited to 1%
MPs have voted in favour of plans to limit annual increases in working-age benefits to 1% until 2015.The benefits subject to the cap from April 2013 include sick pay, maternity pay, paternity pay and adoption pay.The cap was proposed by Chancellor George Osborne in the Autumn Statement on 5 December ...
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Opinion
Susan Ball: iPads can be tax-free if you follow rules
Tax breaks under HCI ended in 2006, but several replacement schemes mean staff can benefit from discounts, thanks to their employer’s buying power, allowing them to pay for a computer over a fixed term, with costs deducted monthly from net salary.But as an employer-supplied product, it is still taxed as ...
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Opinion
Andrew Clark: Staff ownership boosts engagement
One size does not fit all and the debate on how organisations are structured in order to broaden the UK’s economic base and ensure better staff engagement means many alternative forms of corporate ownership are rightly now being explored.How a business engages with its staff has never been more crucial ...