All Tax and legislation articles – Page 50
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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 ...
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Article
Tax incentives for shareholder scheme announced
Chancellor George Osborne announced in his Autumn Statement that the exemption will come into effect from April 2013.He also said the government would consider options to reduce income tax and national insurance liabilities when employee shareholders receive the shares.Chris Blundell, tax partner at MHA MacIntyre Hudson, said: “I think the ...
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Article
Office of Tax Simplification to review benefits
Chancellor George Osborne said in his Autumn Statement that the review would include “an initial scoping exercise to identify which areas are most complex for taxpayers”.Also, OTS recommendations on approved employee share schemes were confirmed in draft legislation published on 11 December.These include changes to the enterprise management incentive (EMI) ...
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Article
Financial Services Bill gets Royal Assent
The Financial Services Bill received Royal Assent on 19 December.The bill, now an Act of Parliament, will be known as the Financial Services Act and will come into effect from 1 April 2013.It gives the Bank of England responsibility for protecting and enhancing financial stability. It also abolishes the Financial ...
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Article
Tax support for employee owners
Autumn Statement 2012: The government is considering options to reduce income tax and national insurance contributions (NICs) that arise when employee shareholders receive shares from their employer.The options include deeming that the first £2,000 of shares received under the employee-shareholder status would be free from income tax and NICs.As previously ...
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Article
Increase in higher-rate tax threshold
Autumn Statement 2012: Chancellor George Osborne announced in the Autumn Statement today that the higher-rate threshold for income tax will increase by 1% in each year between 2013 and 2016.The rate above which individuals pay income tax at 40% will be set at £41,450 in 2014-15 and rise to £42,285 ...
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Article
Government increases personal allowance
Autumn Statement 2012: The government will increase the personal allowance by an additional £235 as part of its commitment to make the first £10,000 of salary free from income tax.During his presentation of the Autumn Statement, Chancellor George Osborne announced that the personal allowance will rise to £9,440 in April ...
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Article
TUPE regulations to be reviewed
Autumn Statement 2012: The government will shortly launch a consultation on TUPE regulations. The proposals will removeunnecessary burdens on business.