Payroll news
Unpaid Work Experience (Prohibition) Bill THIS PRIVATE members’ Bill (http://bit.ly/2utLln7), which was announced in 2016 and introduced by Lord Holmes in the House of Lords, has begun its passage again through the Houses of Parliament. If the Bill receives Royal Assent, its provisions – which will extend to all the United Kingdom and come into effect on the day the Bill is passed – will prohibit unpaid work experience for a period exceeding four weeks with the same employer. The National Minimum Wage Act 1998 would be amended to ensure persons participating in a scheme designed to provide work experience, for a continuous or non-continuous period which exceeds four weeks, are paid beyond this point at least the relevant minimum wage rate. Section 41 of the Act would require the Secretary of State to make regulations within a period of six months, beginning with the day on which the Act is passed. Such regulations must provide that a person undertaking such work experience who has ceased to be of compulsory school age, but has not attained the age of 26, is eligible to receive the national minimum wage at the rate specified for workers of the person’s age. ‘Work experience’ means observing, replicating, assisting with and carrying out any task with the aim of gaining experience of a particular workplace, organisation, industry or work-related activity. Parental Bereavement (Pay and Leave) Bill THIS PRIVATE members’ bill, which has been introduced by Kevin Hollinrake member of parliament (http://bit.ly/2gQjpW3), has government support. It is expected that the second reading will be in the autumn. If the Bill receives Royal Assent its provisions will ensure that parents who are employed and have suffered the death of a child would receive statutory paid leave to grieve. The Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy will be working with employers, employee representatives and campaigners to understand better the needs of bereaved parents and employers. Second 2017 Finance Bill A SECOND 2017 Finance Bill, which is to be introduced as soon as possible after parliament’s summer recess, will include provisions that were in the first 2017 Finance Bill but removed because of the general election. All the provisions (e.g. time limit for making good on taxable benefits, pensions advice exemption) that had an April 2017 commencement date will be effective from this date.
Payroll company fraudsters jailed A FATHER and his two sons have received sentences for value added tax fraud they perpetrated when running Central Payroll Specialists, later rebranded as Quality Premier Services. Liquidation of each company has occurred or is under way. The two umbrella payroll companies were used by recruitment agencies to manage the wages of thousands of temporary workers. Over the course of three years, the VAT received by the companies from the recruitment agencies was not paid to HMRC. Geoffrey Copp, 55, his son Joshua Copp, 24, and brother Andrew Copp, 51, were jailed respectively for ten years and six months, eight years and nine years. An investigation revealed that in 2013–14 Joshua transferred to his personal bank account £2.4 million from CPS with a further £9.2 million transferred in 2014–15. Essex Police have begun the process of applying for confiscation orders under the Proceeds of Crime Act to recover the cash that should rightfully have gone into the public purse. ● PAYE Desktop Viewer – Version 2.44 of HMRC’s PAYE Desktop Viewer, which includes new versions of student loan forms SL1 and SL2, can be downloaded from http://bit. ly/2uTEVPi. ● Employer Bulletin – Issue 66 of HMRC’s Employer Bulletin can be found at http://bit.ly/2sPzkrQ. New digital PSA process FOLLOWING A consultation exercise that took place in 2016, HMRC plans to introduce a digital PAYE (pay as you earn) settlement agreement (PSA) process from 6 April 2018. This process will: ● provide an online digital service for PSA submissions and payment ● remove the need for an annual upfront PSA agreement ● improve and clarify guidance. And briefly… ● New £10 note – a new polymer £10 note featuring Jane Austen comes into circulation on 14 September. ● Employment status – The Arbitration, Conciliation and Advisory Service (ACAS) has published revised guidance on gig economy working and employment status rights (http:// bit.ly/2lqu6eI). ● Off-payroll working – The online guidance on application of the off-payroll working rules for public authorities has been updated by HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) to explain what a public body is and what they need to do to follow the rules. ● CIS deductions – Limited companies that act as a subcontractor and suffer deductions from their construction industry scheme (CIS) payments can generally now use an electronic form for reclaiming, rather than writing or calling HMRC to claim except where the repayment is to be sent to the subcontractor’s agent or a nominee.
Diary dates
5 September 6 September
Last day of tax month 5 First day of tax month 6
Last day for submitting a real time information employer payment summary to apply to tax month 5 Deadline for payment of PAYE and NICs etc to HMRC’s Accounts Office by non-electronic method Deadline for payment of PAYE and NICs etc to HMRC’s Accounts Office by electronic method Automatic enrolment staging date for new employers where PAYE income first payable between 1 April 2015 and 31 December 2015
19 September
22 September
1 October
| Professional in Payroll, Pensions and Reward | September 2017 | Issue 33 20
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