MY CIPP
The CIPP’s Advisory Service team provides answers to popular questions
Q: If an employee draws down a lump sum from their occupational pension, can this be taken as instruction that contributions are to stop? Or should contributions continue to be deducted and paid into their pension until they opt out? A: By drawing down a lump sum from a defined benefit pension scheme, the individual may have triggered the money purchase annual allowance (MPAA). However, that lump sum must be more than 25% of the pension fund value. It’s the individual’s responsibility to inform you if the MPAA has been triggered. If it has, their annual pension allowance is reduced from £60,000 (effective from 06/04/2023) to £10,000 (effective from 06/04/2023). If the individual has triggered the MPAA, any pension contributions paid into the fund which exceed the limit will incur a high tax charge. You may wish to speak to your pension scheme administrator and finance director in scenarios such as this, as employees are normally paid a cash compensation via the payroll to limit the employer pension contributions that would normally be paid over to the pension fund. Neonatal leave and pay Q: We have an employee who has given birth to premature twins at 24 weeks. We started her statutory maternity pay from the date the babies were born, sadly one has passed away and the other is in neonatal care. How does the additional 12 weeks’ leave for babies in neonatal care work alongside maternity leave? Presumably, the father would also be entitled to this from his employer? A: The entitlement to any neonatal statutory leave and pay hasn’t passed all stages in Parliament yet. It’s still going through the parliamentary process before it becomes law. The Bill can be located
Backdated pay award: tax and class 1 NICs will be due at the time payment is made, as there would have been no entitlement to payment before then. If it was a contractual bonus payment: if crossing tax years, Section 18 of the Income Tax (Earnings and Pensions) Act (ITEPA) 2003 could apply if the employee should have received payment in the previous tax year. However, NICs would be due at the time payment is made. The only time you could use a previous tax year’s NIC thresholds is if no pay had been paid in the pay period or the employee’s benefits had been affected (e.g., pensions credits). Again, this would probably be when an employee hadn’t been paid. Equal Pay Act 1970: arrears of pay due under this law: Again. Section 18 of ITEPA 2003 can apply to tax but NICs must be due at the time payment is made, unless there was no pay in the pay period in question or the employee’s benefits were affected. Please see the following links for further information: l The Social Security (Contributions) Regulations 2001: http://ow.ly/KIty50OpUXY l Employment Income Manual (EIM)02530: http://ow.ly/LwFp50OpV5h l National Insurance Manual (NIM)09810: http://ow.ly/uvKu50OpV8w.
What is the snapshot date for gender pay gap reporting purposes?
Gender pay gap reporting ‘snapshot date’ Q: We’re a limited company. For gender pay gap reporting, will the snapshot month we use be April? A: Yes, I can confirm that the snapshot date for gender pay gap reporting is the 5 April for private companies, and you use the earnings in the month in which the snapshot date falls. To assist with this, please follow the guidance here: http:// ow.ly/172S50OpUCF. “Snapshot dates The snapshot dates are: l 31 March for most public authority employers l 5 April for private, voluntary and all other public authority employers You should base your gender pay gap calculations on payroll data taken on your snapshot date.” Applying National Insurance (NI) to retrospective earnings Q: If an employee has two contracts with the same employer, and then claims for retrospective earnings on one of the contracts, how is the NI calculated on the retrospective earnings? A: If this is general backdated pay, then, tax and class 1 NI contributions (NICs) will be due at the time payment is made, as there would have been no entitlement to payment before then. Below is further information which might be useful in the future:
What happens to employer contributions after an employee cashes out their pension?
Pension contributions when an employee draws down a lump sum from their occupational pension
| Professional in Payroll, Pensions and Reward | June 2023 | Issue 91 12
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