All Tax and legislation articles – Page 43
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Article
Tax and legislative changes announced in January and February
HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) changed its policy on the recovery of VAT on defined benefit pensions. There are now circumstances in which employers may be able to claim input tax in relation to pension funds: http://bit.ly/1gzU60qHMRC also announced that it will stagger the introduction of real-time information (RTI) penalties. ...
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ArticleMinimum wage to increase by 3% from October
The national minimum wage will rise to £6.50 an hour for adults aged 21 and over from October.This represents a 3% increase as recommended by the Low Pay Commission.According to a report by the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD) around two-thirds (64%) of respondents thought policymakers should try ...
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ArticleBanks restructure bonuses to meet FCA guidance
All major retail banks have either replaced or made substantial changes to their financial incentive schemes, according to the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA).The City watchdog’s latest review of financial incentive schemes found significant improvements at many UK banks, but adds that further work is needed.For example, the FCA has identified ...
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ArticleHMRC loses NI contributions case
The Supreme Court has ruled against HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) in a national insurance (NI) test case, rejecting the argument that a single employer pension contribution to a funded unapproved retirement benefits scheme (FURBS) should have been subject to NI contributions liability.The case, HMRC v Forde and McHugh, is ...
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ArticleGovernment names five employers which failed to pay minimum wage
The government has named and shamed five employers for failing to pay the correct national minimum wage.It is is introducing a series of measures to crack down on employers that fail to pay the national minimum wage. The first of these, a tougher naming and shaming scheme, came into effect ...
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ArticleEmployers to increase share plan savings limits
EXCLUSIVE: More than half (54%) of employer respondents that provide sharesave schemes intend to increase the monthly savings limits when new legislation comes into force from 6 April, according to research by Equiniti.Its research, which surveyed 40 employers that provide a sharesave plan and 26 that provide a share incentive ...
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ArticleLow Pay Commission recommends 3% minimum wage increase
The Low Pay Commission has recommended that the adult minimum wage should be increased by 3% on 1 October 2014, from £6.31 to £6.50.The Executive summary of the Low Pay Commission 2014 report stated that this could increase the number of jobs covered by the minimum wage by more than ...
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ArticleHMRC to change share plan administration process
HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) is to change the way both new and existing employee share schemes are administered.In its Finance Bill 2014 new guidance notes, published on 7 February, HMRC detailed its new self-certification and online filing process, which follows recommendations made by the Office of Tax Simplification in ...
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Article
New Tupe regulations come into force
Changes to the Transfer of Undertakings (Protection of Employment) (Tupe) regulations come into effect on 31 January.The new rules mean:Changing employees’ terms and conditions of employment after a Tupe transfer will be easier, albeit in limited situationsChanges to terms and conditions of employment derived from collective agreements will be possible, ...
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Article
OTS publishes recommendations on benefits tax
The Office of Tax Simplification (OTS) has put forward recommendations on simplifying and streamlining the system for reporting and taxing employee benefits and expenses.The report, which builds on an interim report published last year that set out a series of nine quick wins, includes 20 proposals to simplify the process ...
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Opinion
Shawn Healy: What quick win tax changes mean for employers
The Office of Tax Simplification (OTS) has identified quick wins to simplify the administration of employee benefits and expenses, nine of which went live in January.HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) is to allow reimbursements by employees of fuel used for private motoring or in a company car made after the ...
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Article
Get up to date on tax compliance at Employee Benefits Connect
To help attendees stay on the right side of the tax man, Lesley Fidler, associate director at Baker Tilly, will give an update on the latest tax issues around salary sacrifice arrangements.She will:recap why salary sacrifice provides tax and/or national insurance contribution (NIC) savingsexplain what is expected to happen to ...
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AnalysisEmployers’ legal requirements for workplace management
Welfare provisionsToilets.Hand basins with soap and towels or a hand-drier.Drinking water.A place to store clothing and somewhere for employees to change/lockers.Somewhere for employees to rest/eat food, which could be their desk.Health provisionsA supply of fresh, clean air from outside, either from open windows or via a mechanical ventilation system, such ...
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Article
John Collison: Will the increase in share scheme limits boost scheme members?
IFS Proshare was delighted to learn that Chancellor George Osborne is to increase investment limits on sharesave plans to £500 a month and on share incentive plans (Sips) to £1,800 a month.Although no one can say for certain whether increasing the limits will immediately result in more organisations launching employee ...
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Article
Employers face increased minimum wage penalties
Employers that do not pay employees the national minimum wage will face an increased penalty of up to £20,000.The government is to increase the financial penalty percentage from 50% to 100% of the unpaid wages owed to workers found to be underpaid, plus the penalty fine of up to £20,000.Currently, ...
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Opinion
Barbara Allen: The new disclosure regime for executive remuneration
Under the new format, remuneration reports must include a letter from the chairman of the remuneration committee outlining any significant changes during the reporting year, a forward-looking policy report and an annual report on remuneration setting out how the organisation’s remuneration policy was implemented during the year.The policy report, which ...
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Article
First Autumn Statement changes take effect
The investment limits for share plans will increase from April 2014. The limits on sharesave schemes will double from £250 to £500 a month, while the maximum value of shares that an employee can acquire with tax advantages through share incentive plans will rise to £1,800 for partnership shares and ...
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Article
Share scheme limit rise divides opinion
The limits on sharesave schemes will double from £250 to £500 a month, while the maximum value of shares an employee can acquire with tax advantages through share incentive plans (Sips) will increase by £300 a year, to £1,800 for partnership shares and £3,600 for free shares.Phil Hall, specialist adviser ...
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Article
Bonus cap for bankers takes effect
New legislation to cap European bankers’ bonuses took effect from 1 January 2014.The legislation, which was agreed in March 2013 by the European Parliament and European Commission, will apply to bonuses paid in 2015.The law means that:A salary/bonus ratio of 1:1 can be raised to 1:2 with a shareholder vote ...
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Article
Richard Lloyd: Will the government’s proposed 0.75% pension charges cap be enough?
There is an urgent need for better minimum standards for all workplace pensions so that employees can be confident they are being enrolled into high-quality, good-value schemes. We are calling on pensions minister Steve Webb to do more to protect employees’ retirement funds, so we have launched the Hands off ...