Policy hub
On your behalf
Policy team update
The CIPP policy teamprovide an update
A t the time of writing we don’t know whether the UK has left the EU with or without a deal or whether some other convoluted scenario has evolved; but what has and will continue to happen for the foreseeable future is a drain on governmental resource while attention is focused on the areas most needed for ‘all things Brexit’. On your behalf always contains updates from the CIPP’s policy team’s consultation work and while we have certainly seen a slow down at times for publications and meetings due to a shift in priorities for government departments, there is still plenty going on behind the scenes while we continue to work on your behalf. Payrolling survey Through February and March, we ran a survey together with HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) to gather information to help inform HMRC of the biggest barriers that currently exist which prevent employers and their agents from electing to payroll their benefits in kind (BiKs). When we are out and about talking to members, we hear many positive comments about HMRC’s Payrolling of BiKs Service, but numbers registering for the Service remain low. We want to provide HMRC with an indication
of the areas that may require reform and look to also find out how to reduce the administrative burden on employers. At the time of writing our survey was still open but of the 45 responses received at the time, 45% were payrolling BiKs with some of the following reasons cited for doing so. No burden of P11Ds; saved costs by not using P11D provider; software doesn’t have the functionality to produce P11D returns; easier to payroll the benefits than P11D them; payroll cars as HMRC were supposed to make this compulsory; accurate tax calculations for employees (real time); to take control over changes to employees' taxable pay and offer the best service to them; believing payrolling will eventually be how benefits will need to be reported in the future so being proactive for clients. When asked what barriers were preventing the 55% of respondents from payrolling benefits, we provided some options: ● processes too complicated – 44% ● ● guidance not clear – 39% ● ● agents cannot register on behalf of clients – 5% ● ● registration more flexible, not just once a year – 7% ● ● other please detail below – 7%.
Additional reasons for not payrolling included: double taxation; no buy-in from the business; knowing that P11D return are still required for some other benefits: payrolling benefits would greatly increase end-of-tax-year admin; unsure if software is up to the job; processes too complicated; registration not flexible enough. We asked what, if anything, would encourage you to payroll BiKs and of the options we provided ‘easier processes’ came out on top (65%) with ‘the ability to payroll more benefits’ (30%) and to ‘allow agent registration’ (22%). Additional measures asked for included: basic training; being able to start payrolling any point in the year not just at the start; NICs on benefits that do not require a P11D(b) return; to be able to report the taxable benefit for new entrants receiving benefits such as medical insurance in the month of March in April’s payroll; simplification of the car benefit data requirements. When asked what improvements respondents would like to see to the payrolling service, there were numerous suggestions, including: better online options to view data on HMRC’s website; more simplified information to start with; no need to register – the full payment submission (FPS) could do this; ability to process everything that’s a benefit and removing the requirements for P11D return; being able to enrol part way through a year; capturing
...attention is focused on the areas most needed for ‘all things Brexit’
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Issue 49 | April 2019
| Professional in Payroll, Pensions and Reward |
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