All Tax and legislation articles – Page 56
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Article
HMRC publishes consultation on tax avoidance schemes
HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) has published a consultation on improving the information available about tax avoidance schemes and the risks of using them.The consultation includes proposals to revise and extend the Disclosure of Tax Avoidance Schemes (Dotas) hallmarks (the descriptions of schemes required to be disclosed for income tax, ...
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Article
High Court ruling will protect the pension benefits of Urenco employees
A ruling from the High Court on 12 June against nuclear fuel company Urenco will protect the pension benefits of 13,000 former employees of British Nuclear Fuels (BNF) and the UK Atomic Energy Authority (UKAEA).The ruling stated that the pension protection provided by the Energy Act 2004 for the former ...
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Article
HMRC reminds employers about late penalties for annual tax return
HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) has written to employers this week with a reminder about the late penalties for missing the 19 May deadline for their 2011-12 employer annual returns.Employers that missed the deadline will receive an increased penalty if they do not act by 19 June.Even if an employer ...
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Article
High Court rules that BBC pension scheme cap is legal
The High Court has ruled that the BBC pension scheme reforms, which cap future pensionable salary increases at 1%, are legal.The judgement, Bradbury vs. BBC, dealt with an appeal to the decision of the pensions ombudsman in a case brought by John Bradbury, a member of the BBC Philharmonic Orchestra. ...
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Article
Beecroft report on employment law published
The Beecroft Report on employment law has been published by the Department for Business Innovation and Skills (BIS).Business secretary Vince Cable said the report, which was written by venture capitalist Adrian Beecroft, has been published to dispel some of the myths that have been associated with it.He added: “Because of ...
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Article
Report on employment law to be published
A report on employment law, known as the Beecroft report, will be published this week.The report, written by venture capitalist Adrian Beecroft and commissioned by prime minister David Cameron’s former chief policy adviser Steve Hilton, is likely to include the following proposals: Delaying the pension reforms, which would force employers ...
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Article
Employee Benefits/Towers Watson Flexible Benefits Research 2012: Tax-efficient benefits
Changes in tax legislation have made employers more wary about certain benefits, but any tax and NI savings are a strong draw in straitened times, says Tynan BartonSome 85% of employers offer tax-efficient benefits through flex, a small drop from the 90% that did so in 2011. In 2008, this ...
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Analysis
How will pension reforms affect employment contracts?
If you read nothing else, read this… Auto-enrolment is complex and may cause employers difficulties. Care is required in how part-timers, fixed-term workers and secondees are treated. Identifying eligible employees is one of the hardest tasks, because an employer’s existing systems will not be set up to capture this data. ...
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Article
Budget 2012: Government consultation on integrating income tax and NI due in April
Chancellor George Osborne has confirmed that the consultation on the integration of income tax and national insurance (NI), as announced in the 2011 Autumn Statement, will be published in April.The plans to consult on the integration of income tax and NI were announced in a paper in November 2011, which ...
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Article
Budget 2012: Tax reliefs capped at 25% of income for higher earners
The government is to introduce a limit of 25% of income on all uncapped income tax reliefs for those earning more than £50,000 annually, announced Chancellor George Osborne in the 2012 Budget report.This will increase effective tax rates and help ensure that those with the highest incomes pay a fairer ...
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Article
Budget 2012: 50p tax rate to be reduced to 45p
The top 50p rate of income tax is to be reduced to 45p from April 2013.In the Budget report 2012, Chancellor George Osborne said the 50p rate, which is levied on taxable income above £150,000 a year, has damaged Britain’s competitiveness.Sean Drury, tax partner at PricewaterhouseCoopers (PWC), said the move ...
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Article
Budget 2012: Tax relief on luncheon vouchers scrapped from 2013
As announced in the Budget 2011 and Finance Bill 2012, the government has now confirmed that it will proceed with the abolition tax relief on luncheon vouchers from 6 April 2013.Luncheon Vouchers are currently NIC and tax exempt up to £36 a year. That is, roughly, a tax break on ...
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Article
Budget 2012: Tax relief abolished on some group life assurance premiums
As previously announced, from 6 April 2015, tax relief will be abolished on group life assurance premiums paid by employers under employee-funded retirement benefit.Read more stories from the Budget 2012
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Article
Duncan Brown: What is on your wish list for the Budget on 21 March?
I would like to see more substantive action announced by the Chancellor to encourage employers to provide meaningful work opportunities for young people, with record levels of youth unemployment across Europe being one of the most distressing aspects of our current economic malaise. But the problem is primarily one of ...
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Article
David Heaton: What is on your wish list for the Budget on 21 March?
My wish list is about making life simpler for employers. All governments want to make life simpler for business: they cannot offer tax cuts, so they try to make the tax collection process as painless as possible.I would offer the following ideas:Realign the starting threshold for employer and employee national ...
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Article
Office of Tax Simplification publishes recommendations for employee share schemes
The Office of Tax Simplification (OTS) has published a report on employee share schemes, recommending the removal of the approval process for sharesave schemes, share incentive plans (Sips) and company share option plans (Csops).The Review of tax-advantaged employee share schemes also recommends merging the current enterprise management incentive (EMI) and ...
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Article
Rangers Football Club awaits ruling in employee benefits trust tribunal as it enters administration
Rangers Football Club has entered administration as it awaits the verdict in an HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) tax tribunal, which concerns its use of an employee benefit trust (EBT).An EBT is a discretionary trust used for the benefit of employees. The Scottish football club used EBTs to pay players’ ...
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Article
EXCLUSIVE: Freshfields saves tax and NI through salary sacrifice
Law firm Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer has saved its staff £2 million in tax and national insurance over the past 12 months through salary sacrifice, and has revamped its flexible benefits.This message was used in a poster campaign around the annual enrolment period for its Benefits Plus plan. Jackie Palmer, senior ...
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Article
Reed Group loses tribunal appeal on salary sacrifice arrangements
Twelve Reed Group organisations have lost an appeal in a case that concerned the tax treatment of travel and subsistence payments to staff.The scheme was set up by way of a salary sacrifice arrangement.The case, in the First Tier Tribunal, concerned payments made between January 2001 and April 2006 to ...
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Article
Police Arbitration Tribunal supports pay overhaul
The Police Arbitration Tribunal has backed major changes in police officers pay, as recommended in Tom Winsor’s Independent Review of Police Officer and Staff Remuneration and Conditions.The recommendations include a suspension on bonuses, two-year freeze on police officers moving up incremental payscales, and curbs on overtime pay.Paul McKeever, chairman of ...