Chancellor Philip Hammond has announced that he will deliver the Autumn Budget on Wednesday 22 November. The Autumn Budget will be the second Budget to be delivered this year, and will outline the government’s proposed tax changes and spending plans in response to forecasts from the Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR). The 2017 Autumn Budget will be the first of its kind un ...
Get ready for the new data protection rules
The government is to introduce new data protection rules under the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) which takes effect from 25 May 2018. Under the GDPR businesses will have increased obligations to safeguard the personal information of individuals which is stored by the business. These rules apply to the information of customers, suppliers or employees. Generally for ...
Auto enrolment for new employers
Under pensions auto enrolment employers have to enrol qualifying employees into a workplace pension. Duties include paying contributions for the employee. The process of auto enrolment has been phased in from October 2012 when the largest employers had to comply with the rules. However the rules are set to change and new employers will have to comply with their automatic enrolm ...
HMRC Guidance for employers
HMRC have issued their latest guidance to employers in the August edition of the Employer Bulletin. This publication, which is issued every two months, includes articles on: Reporting Pay As You Earn in real time Optional Remuneration Arrangements Tax codes – Get it right first time PAYE penalties – continuation of the risk-based approach to charging penalties PAYE Settl ...
Pensions Auto enrolement compliance
The Pensions Regulator (TPR) has begun carrying out employer spot checks to make sure employers are complying with their automatic enrolment duties and that they are giving their staff the workplace pensions they’re entitled to. According to the TPR these inspections help them to understand any challenges employers are facing, and whether TPR need to make any changes to their g ...
HMRC Online forum for webchat
HMRC have announced the introduction of a new online tax forum and webchat service for small businesses. HMRC are advising that the new service called the Small Business Online Forum offers advice on tax matters as well as help with: starting a business support for growing a business – including taking on employees and expanding buying and selling abroad completing tax r ...
Latest labour market statistics show rise in employment
The latest labour market statistics for the period March to May 2017 showed a 175,000 rise in employment and 64,000 fall in unemployment. Estimates from the Labour Force Survey show that, between December 2016 to February 2017 and March to May 2017, the number of people in work increased, the number of unemployed people fell, and the number of people aged from 16 to 64 not wor ...
HMRC genuine and phishing/bogus emails and calls
HMRC have issued an update of their guidance on how to recognise genuine HMRC contact be it via email or text. HMRC also provide advice on what to do if you have received a phishing/bogus email related to HMRC, or you are not sure if it is genuine, you can read about how to report internet scams and phishing to HMRC. Internet link: HMRC guidance ...
Taylor Review of employment practices
The long awaited Taylor Review of employment practices suggests that a national strategy is needed to help provide security in such areas as wages, quality of employment, education and training, working conditions, work life balance and the ability to progress at work. One of the areas of focus relates to the ‘gig’ economy, with the report recommending the creation of a new ca ...
Automatic enrolment reaches a all time high
The Pensions Regulator (TPR) has confirmed than eight million employees have signed up for a workplace pension since the launch of automatic enrolment. The introduction of automatic enrolment was expected to lead to around eight million workers saving more for their retirement and this milestone has already been reached with hundreds of thousands more employers still to enrol ...