The introduction of the new pay element was announced after a consultation on the topic was held, and the arrival of the guidance will be welcomed as it means that developers can be fully prepared for the upcoming change from April 2020. SPBP will be available to employees who suffer the loss of a child under the age of 18 or who have had to cope with the stillbirth of a child from 24 weeks of pregnancy onwards. Employer and parent guidance on the subject is expected to arrive on the Gov.UK website in December 2019, which again, gives sufficient time for all affected parties to prepare for the changes. Forms relating to SPBP will also be published at this point.
SDST has provided advice for software developers which employers and payroll practitioners may also find useful, as per below.
The document covers a variety of points relating to SPBP. One major component of the document relates to eligibility and the qualifying criteria that need to be observed before paying SPBP - when and how the leave can be taken, employee length of service and earning conditions and technicalities surrounding the child’s relationship with the employee. SPBP will be paid at £148.68 per week (tax year 2019/2020) in line with other statutory parental payments and will also be subject to an increase each tax year. The payment can be made for two weeks, or across two one-week blocks, or for a singular week, dependent on how the employee wishes to take their leave. Basic PAYE tools online will include a calculator, to aid with the SPBP process and figures. There are strict record keeping instructions and the document expands on exactly what they are. The most important area for developers will be how SPBP is reported to, and reclaimed back, from HMRC. The process is in line with other statutory payments, as it is to be reported via FPS and reclaimed back through the EPS. P60s will include a new section in which to record any SPBP figures, but there is no stipulation that it needs to be itemised separately on payslips.
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New format SMP1 form published, with the new, welcome option to complete on screen 22 October 2019 HMRC has published a new version of the SMP1 form, which allows for the majority of information to be completed on screen. The form still needs to be printed so that a wet signature can be added prior to sending out to employees but the new format will be highly beneficial to payroll officers, particularly if they must regularly issue high volumes of SMP1 forms to staff. The SMP1 form is a document that is provided to women who are not eligible to receive Statutory Maternity Payment (SMP) from their employer via payroll, as they do not meet the qualifying criteria. The SMP1 form is sent to the relevant individual, who can present it at the Job Centre to claim Maternity Allowance (MA). When the SMP1 form is sent out, the MatB1 document that the employee provided should also be returned to them. Payroll staff must complete all of the employee’s personal information as requested on the form and also provide the explanation as to why the company cannot make SMP payments to them. There’s a list of seven reasons as to why somebody wouldn’t be entitled to SMP and payroll must select the applicable option. The final section of the SMP1 form surrounds details of the employer and of the staff member completing the document, with the requirement for a wet signature and an employer stamp to ensure validity. The new document will significantly diminish the administrative burden of completing SMP1 forms, especially within businesses where there is the requirement to submit large numbers of them on a frequent basis. The option to complete the SSP1 form online was made available back in May 2019 so the publication of this new style SMP1 form ensures consistency across HMRC documents and serves to simplify the lives of payroll professionals.
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The Chartered Institute of Payroll Professionals
Payroll: need to know
cipp.org.uk
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