All Tax and legislation articles – Page 52
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AnalysisBeware of tax and legal anomalies in benefits
YOU READ NOTHING ELSE, READ THIS …Employers must be aware of all the tax and legal implications of benefits.Bikes-for-work schemes are often misunderstood. The bike is owned by the employer and must be used by the employee to get to and from work.Certain flexible benefi ts can require changes to ...
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Article
Consultation findings on executive pay
The latest move, at the end of September, was the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills’ (BIS) release of consultation proposals on reporting regulations for executive remuneration.The consultation, Directors’ pay: revised remuneration reporting regulations, followed business secretary Vince Cable’s announcement on 23 January 2012 that the government wanted a package ...
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Article
Chancellor's employee-owner consultation to end
The consultation will examine how to implement the contract, due to be introduced in April 2013.The proposal, announced in October, has been met with resistance from the industry.Under the plan, all employers would be able to offer the new contract by giving staff between £2,000 and £50,000 in shares, exempt ...
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Article
Reforms reduce public sector pension benefits
The government’s proposed reforms for public sector pension schemes will reduce the average value of the schemes’ benefits by more than a third, according to research by independent charity the Pensions Policy Institute.The research, The implications of the Coalition government’s reforms for members of the public service pension schemes, looked ...
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Article
Equal pay ruling could raise employer costs
The Supreme Court has ruled that equal pay claims can be brought through civil courts rather than employment tribunals, which will extend the time limit to make a claim from six months to six years.Birmingham City Council, the employer at the centre of the case, appealed to the Supreme Court ...
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Article
Incorrect staff status could lead to penalities
Employers should be aware of the areas HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) will look at when considering whether a worker is classified as self-employed or as an employee.If an employer treats a worker as a freelancer or contractor when they are, in fact, an employee, HMRC could require the employer ...
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Article
Consultation launched on employee-owner scheme
The government has launched a consultation that sets out its plans for a new employment status, called employee-owner.The move follows Chancellor George Osborne’s proposal on 8 October that employee-owners would be able to own shares in their company worth between £2,000 and £50,000, which will not be subject to capital ...
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Article
IBM loses High Court pensions case
IBM will have to rectify the trust deeds and rules for its UK defined benefit (DB) plan to allow active members to retire from age 60 without the organisation’s consent or reduction in their pension, following a High Court judgement.The case was brought before the courts by the pension scheme’s ...
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Article
Owner-employee contract a bad idea
The majority (63%) of respondents think the government’s proposal for owner-employee schemes is a bad idea, according to a poll by YouGov.The employee-owner schemes, which were announced by Chancellor George Osborne on 8 October, would require employees to give up employment rights, such as wrongful dismissal, the right to redundancy ...
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Article
Owner-employee contract could breach EU laws
A proposed new employment contract that would require employees to give up employment rights for shares in their organisation could still leave employers open to claims for unfair dismissal under European regulations.The owner-employee contract, announced at the Conservative Party conference on 8 October by Chancellor George Osborne, could see employers ...
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Article
AWR have increased admin costs
A year on from their introduction, the Agency Workers Regulations (AWR) are thought to have cost organisations more than £1.5 billion in administration costs, but have not increased benefits for workers, according to the Confederation of British Industry (CBI).The regulations, which were introduced 1 October 2011, give agency workers entitlement ...
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Article
Ban on age discrimination extended
New provisions set out in the Equality Act 2010, which extends the ban on age discrimination, came into force on 1 October and could impact some service providers, such as healthcare providers.According to the Equality Human Rights Commission, the new ban will mean, in most cases, these service providers will ...
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Video
VIDEO: Lesley Fidler on tax issues
It is important for benefits professionals, as well as finance professionals, to be aware of tax issues surrounding salary sacrifice schemes, said Lesley Fidler, tax director at Baker Tilly.Fidler was interviewed by Debi O’Donovan, editor of Employee Benefits magazine, at Employee Benefits Live in September.Fidler added that big tax-related issues ...
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Article
Executive remuneration consultation closes
The Department for Business, Innovation and Skills’ (BIS) consultation exercise on revised executive remuneration reporting regulations has closed.The consultation, Directors’ pay: revised remuneration reporting regulations, includes draft regulations setting out the proposed form and content of the director’s remuneration report.The proposals of the report, if enacted, will give shareholders a ...
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Opinion
Robert O’Hare: Tax issues around auto-enrolment
It does not appear that auto-enrolment will have any direct tax impact, but there could be an indirect tax impact on employees.For example, the threshold for the maximum amount of annual pension contributions that qualify for tax relief was recently cut to £50,000. If an employee’s annual pension savings already ...
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Opinion
Gagandeep Prasad: Update on employment reform
On the legislative front, the coalition government is continuing its programme of employment reform. This includes new provisions on executive remuneration aimed at curbing boardroom excess by giving greater powers to shareholders contained in the Enterprise and Regulatory Reform Bill, now going through parliament.The government has also confirmed it will ...
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Opinion
Alex Fricke: Legal issues around staff health and wellbeing
Ensure employment contracts and/or applicable policies clearly set out the organisation’s approach to sickness absence. For example, how many days will be paid under a contractual sick pay scheme and is the employer entitled to seek a medical report?Review provisions regarding any private health insurance cover. Ensure that there is ...
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Article
ECJ considers Tupe case
The European Court of Justice is currently hearing a case that could impact on the remuneration employers provide to employees as part of a transfer covered by transfer of undertakings (protection of employment) (Tupe) regulations.The case, Parkwood Leisure versus Alemo-Herron and others, involves a private sector organisation that took over ...
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Article
ECJ to examine VAT on DB pensions
The European Court of Justice (ECJ) will examine whether defined benefit (DB) pension schemes should pay value-added tax (VAT) on investment management services.The case under examination involves Wheels Common Investment Fund (WCIF), a multi-employer scheme, and the National Association of Pension Funds (NAPF), after a tribunal in London in February ...
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Article
Public sector pensions bill published
The government has published the Public Service Pensions Bill 2013, which is forecast to save £65 billion over the next fifty years and aims to reduce public sector pension scheme costs by around half.The Independent Public Service Pensions Commission published its final report in March 2011. The government accepted its ...