Time employees spend travelling between work and home should legally count as working time, according to the European Court of Justice.The highest court in Europe has ruled that workers who do not operate from a permanent workplace should be able to charge employers for the time taken to commute to work, which they are currently not permitted to do. The controversial ruling will impact millions of workers and their employers. Most employees will be pleased with the ruling, as … [Read more...]
HMRC ‘unwilling to give any steer’ on IR35 changes
The taxman is “unwilling to give any steer” on his approach to April’s IR35 changes to the very parties who will be liable and responsible for those changes, an agency body alleges.This current reticence by HMRC to provide the parties with the “real detail” on how the new rules will work makes it probable that it won’t be released until next year, says APSCo.The agency body reached this conclusion after it held a meeting with the Revenue’s policy officers Neil Chattell and Julie De … [Read more...]
HMRC launches new employment status unit
Recruiters have been urged to review their practices to ensure individuals are not being misclassified as self-employed.The warning comes from employment lawyers after it emerged HM Revenues & Customs is launching a specialist unit to investigate firms suspected of withholding employment protection from workers, by using agency staff or calling them self-employed.The move was confirmed last week in a letter from financial secretary to the Treasury, Jane Ellison, to Labour MP Frank … [Read more...]
Heads go to Downing Street with ‘dire’ funding warning
Head teachers have written to Theresa May to warn that a funding crisis could make schools reduce hours, lay off staff or stop teaching some subjects.The letter to the prime minister has been signed by the heads of every state school in West Sussex, who argue they need £20m in emergency funding.They say the "distraction" of grammar schools cannot be a priority ahead of basic funding and staffing.The government has promised a complete overhaul of school funding in England.But the … [Read more...]
£20,000 trainee GP offer to boost doctor recruitment
Dr Heidi Phillips said her profession faced "huge challenges" to hire and keep GPs.New cash incentives will be offered to doctors who train and work as GPs in Wales in a bid to tackle an issue with recruitment.Junior doctors will get £20,000, providing they stay for at least one year after completing their training.Those who train as GPs will also get a one-off payment of £2,000 to cover the cost of their final exams.It is part of a Welsh Government campaign to get doctors to … [Read more...]
Important information for all our Contractors
This is for information only, you do not need to do anything at the moment.It's been 3 years since our Pension Auto Enrolment and now we must go through our first re-enrolment. Automatic re-enrolment is a statutory process that all companies have to go through.This means that from 31st October 2016, any workers that have opted out 12 or more months ago and are still active, will be automatically re-enroled.All you need to do if you wish to opt out again, is to follow the original … [Read more...]
Pension Re-enrolment is here!
We can’t believe that it’s been 3 years since we first completed Auto Enrolment. This means those who have opted out previously and more than 12 months ago, will be re-enrolled if eligible. Here’s what the Pensions Regulator says about re-enrolment:Every three years you must put certain staff back into a pension scheme. This is called ‘re-enrolment’.Your re-enrolment duties must be carried out approximately three years after your automatic enrolment staging date.Your … [Read more...]
Why the future’s not bright for IR35 advice
Caring whether their adviser soon gets stuck between a rock and a hard place isn’t the job of a contractor.But new legislative proposals may mean the upshot of this predicament for advisers is a reluctance for them to assist temporary workers with tax and IR35 advice.This is the realistic prospect of a tabled piece of tax legislation that threatens to drive divisions between adviser (the professional who gives you guidance on IR35, for example) and client (you, the contractor).In the … [Read more...]
Are you ready for the National Minimum Wage changes?
Although the minimum wage for the 25's and over was changed in April when the National Living Wage came into play, there are a few changes for the 1st October for other age groups.Below are the new National Minimum Wage rates:£7.20 - the rate for workers aged 25 and over £6.95 - the 21-24 rate £5.55 - the 18-20 rate £4.00 - the 16-17 rate £3.40 - the Apprentice rateIf you are in doubt as to the agency rates for contract workers or minimum processing rates for our different … [Read more...]
New Tax Avoidance Scheme Uncovered
WARNINGNew tax avoidance scheme uncovered with PSC’sHMRC has warned taxpayers against using a new ER-based scheme to reduce tax payable on earnings to 10%.How it worksThe scheme is described in the latest tax avoidance “spotlight” by HMRC: Capital Gains Tax: Entrepreneurs’ Relief tax avoidance scheme. It has three stages:A taxpayer who owns a personal service company (PSC) in the UK sells that company to an organisation based in Cyprus. This sale is correctly taxed as a … [Read more...]