Payroll News & Information – UK
Payroll News – Latest
New National Minimum Wage rates
National Minimum Wage rates increase on 1st April 2022. Over 23 year olds to £9.50, 21-22 year olds £9.18, 18-20 year olds to £6.83 and under 18 year olds to £4.81, the apprentice rate to £4.81.
Advisory Fuel Rates
The advisory fuel rates changes quarterly. The rates are used to repay employees tax-free for fuel used on business mileage. They only apply where employers reimburse employees for business travel in their company cars or require them to repay the cost of fuel used for private travel. Click here for the new rates.
Marriage Allowance
If you are married or in a civil partnership you can now transfer £1,260 of unused personal allowance from one spouse or civil partner to the other. It will save the couple tax of £252 for 2022-23. The marriage allowance can only be claimed where one person has unused personal allowance and the other partner is taxed at no more than 20%. The claim must be done online through the GOV.UK website by the person transferring their allowance.
Penalty Filing notices for late RTI reporting now in force
Penalties apply for businesses with schemes of 50 or more employees. Those affected will receive a letter outlining the penalties incurred.HMRC issues a penalty when the Full Payment Submission (FPS) is late, it has not received the expected number of FPSs or when it has not received an Employer Payment Summary if no employees have been paid in a tax month. The largest employers can face charges of up to £400 a month. Each penalty on the notice will carry an identification number and details of the procedure to follow if they want to appeal. Penalties will not apply for deal;ys of up to 3 days.
Abolition of employers’ NI for under 21’s
From 6th April 2015, employers will not have to pay Class 1 National Insurance contributions for employees under 21 years of age. This is restricted to earnings up to the Upper Earnings Limit which is £967 per week for the 2022-23 tax year.
Holiday pay ruling
Where an employee’s salary includes regular sales commission, that commission must be included in holiday pay according to the latest ruling by the European Court of Justice. This concerns the four weeks statutory minimum holiday, not the 5.6 weeks granted in the UK. The court has held that workers must not be discouraged from taking annual leave. Therefore holiday calculations should include an allowance for commission to prevent workers from suffering any disadvantage. Employers should consider the implications of this outcome and undertake a review of their contracts and policies to ensure it is clear how holiday pay is calculated.
Interest on late HMRC payments
HMRC now charges interest on any late PAYE and Construction Industry Scheme payments.
From the date the payment is due to the date it is paid in full, HMRC will charge interest daily. To avoid an interest charge employers should pay by the due date the amounts reported on their Full Payment Submission (FPS) less any deductions reported on an Employer Payment Submission (EPS) if applicable.
Maximum Penalty for illegally employing an immigrant doubles
There are unlimited fines and up to 5 years in prison where an employer is found to have employed workers who are subject to immigration control but do not have the right to work in the UK,
£5000 Employment Allowance
The Employment Allowance is available from 6 April 2014. If you are eligible you can reduce your employer Class 1 NICs by up to £5000 each tax year. You can claim your allowance through your payroll software. Your employer Class 1 NICs payment due is reduced by an equal amount of employment allowance, but no more than £5000 per year. Single director companies are exempt. From April 2020 the employers allowance is limited to employers with Class1 Ni liability of less than £100,000
More payroll news and information can be found on our payroll news posts – click here
Payroll News from Highland Payroll Services