Does your payroll include self-employed workers, contractors or consultants? A small piece of legislation is set to have a large impact on businesses. Understanding your IR35 status may save you from back paying unpaid tax. From the 6th April, 2021, all public authorities and medium to large sized businesses will be responsible for deciding the employment status of workers. Failure to comply could result in hefty workers tax and National Insurance shortfalls becoming the employer’s … [Read more...]
Are you calculating holiday pay at 12.07%? If so, you could be held liable for pay differences.
The position regarding holiday pay entitlement for workers with varying work patterns was considered by the Court of Appeal in the 2019 case of Harpur Trust vs. Brazel Case Study Ms Brazel, a clarinet and saxophone teacher worked at schools providing individual lessons to its pupils. She worked on average between 10 and 15 hours per week. She was paid by the hour and did not work during the school holidays. Ms Brazel was required to take her holiday entitlement.The school did what … [Read more...]
Education agencies, why are you not outsourcing your payroll?
Why use an Umbrella company or as we like to call ourselves, an Outsourced payroll Provider, compared to PAYE through your agency?We have seen a large increase in education agencies utilising umbrella services since the pandemic and below our National Account Director Paul Johnston explains why:Since the demise of expenses back in 2016, the thought of utilising a payroll provider for Umbrella services has seen a change in mind-set and not all for the right reasons. Many workers feel that … [Read more...]
Immigration law changes, is your business ready?
Following the departure of Great Britain from the EU, the transition period ends in December. From January 2021, new rules will apply.One topic businesses need to ensure they have covered is the immigration law changes, which will affect business that employ workers from the EU.As many businesses will already be aware, EU nationals will have to apply for the EU settlement scheme to continue to live and work in the UK and have until the 30th June 2021 to apply for the scheme.On the … [Read more...]
Up to £3.5bn furlough claims fraudulent or paid in error – HMRC
HMRC told MP’s on the Public Accounts Committee it estimates that 5-10% of furlough has been wrongly awarded, with the latest data showing the programme has cost the Government £35.4bn so far.So far, 8,000 calls have been received to HMRC’s fraud hotline.The furlough scheme had paid 80% of wages for the workers placed on leave since March due to the coronavirus outbreak.Employers are being urged to check their claims and repay any excess amount back to HMRC.As it stands HMRC are … [Read more...]
CRJS Government Guidance Update
The government have issued guidance to help employers repay HMRC if they have over claimed through the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme.We have put together some key points to assist employers with repayments in line with the guidance supplied by HMRC.If you have uploaded a claim in error and want to delete it, you must delete the claim via the online service within 72 hours. If you have made an error in a claim that has resulted in an over claimed amount you must pay this back to … [Read more...]
Scam Advice
A number of people across the UK have fallen victim of HMRC scams such as bogus phone calls, WhatsApp messages, Tax refunds and most recently coronavirus scams.If someone texts, calls or emails claiming to be from HMRC and asks for credit card or bank details it is likely to be a scam. The scams mimic HMRC messages in an effort to look genuine.The most recent scam is via text for a ‘goodwill payment‘ telling customers they can claim a goodwill payment due to the coronavirus. One example … [Read more...]
Summer statement: what you need to know
The Chancellor Rishi Sunak announced measures in the summer statement to help the UK recover from the effects of the coronavirus.Below we have put together a summarised brief of the announcements.Jobs Retention Bonus: If an employer brings back a furloughed employee and keeps them in the job to January, then the Government will pay a £1,000 bonus per employee. Sunak stated, "It's vital people aren't just returning for the sake of it - they need to be doing decent work.”For businesses … [Read more...]
What you need to know about staff returning to work post Covid-19
Following The Prime Ministers announcement regarding the further easing of lockdown, measures will need to be in place to start planning for staff to return to work.The initial response to the pandemic was to enforce lockdown and for employees to work from home where possible. Meaning a large portion of the UK working from home. Steps had to be put in place to accommodate the changes to many businesses and ensure staff received support during lockdown to protect their wellbeing.Many HR … [Read more...]
Returning NHS workers targeted by tax avoidance promoters
Individuals who are returning to the National Health Service (NHS) to help to respond to the outbreak of COVID-19 have been targeted by immoral promoters of tax avoidance schemes. HMRC is advising affected individuals to be wary of signing up to these schemes.The schemes on offer all have common features, but they may be described in different ways. One consistent element will be that the scheme attempts to disguise the true level of earnings, which should be subject to Income Tax and … [Read more...]