Professional April 2024

MY CIPP

The CIPP’s Advisory Service team provides answers to popular questions

Amending an incorrect start date on payroll Q: If an employee started a job on a date later than the one provided to payroll, and this was identified after the relevant payroll run was completed and information sent to HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC), would you amend that employee’s start date or make them a leaver on the system and add them as a new joiner with a revised start date? Currently, we would enter unpaid absence for the period in which the employee wasn’t actually employed, as our software doesn’t allow us to change the start date once the payroll run has been completed. A: You would need to update your payroll records to reflect the correct start date. However, this amendment should not be submitted on a full payment submission (FPS), as it could create a duplicate record with HMRC. Please see the following guidance, taken from https://ow.ly/ k3Jh50QLpYZ: “Correct an employee’s start or leaving date Update your payroll records with the correct date if you put the wrong start or leaving date for an employee in your FPS. Do not report the amendment in your next FPS as this may create a duplicate record for the employee.”

refund of childcare vouchers. How can this be handled correctly? A: Guidance from HMRC states that childcare vouchers can be refunded but tax and National Insurance (NI) contributions must be deducted. If the childcare vouchers relate to a previous tax year, the refund would still be made in the current year, as tax and NI is due when the payment is made available to the employee. This applies to both current and former employees. Please see this HMRC guidance for further information: https://ow.ly/ FMlJ50QLqbv: “Refunding childcare vouchers You need to deduct PAYE tax and National Insurance contributions before making the refund to employees. This applies to both current and former employees. If your company no longer exists, the voucher provider may refund the employee directly. This will depend on the contract between your company and the voucher provider.” Additionally, as this employee is a leaver, the voucher refund must be processed using the payment after leaving rules, which will collect tax at the basic rate and will use the weekly earnings thresholds for NI contributions. Statutory sick pay (SSP) and the three waiting days rule Q: I have an employee who is off sick and has received company sick pay (CSP) for some time. They exhaust their entitlement to that CSP mid-month and will go onto SSP following that. My question is, would I pay them SSP from the day the CSP entitlement ceases, or do they need to serve three waiting days prior to the payment of SSP? A: HMRC states that SSP is only payable within a period of entitlement which starts on the first day of incapacity, therefore SSP should have started from the first day of sickness with payment from the fourth day.

You can top the SSP up with CSP as per your company policy and the contract of employment. Therefore, your suggestion to start SSP after several months’ sickness would not be allowable. The qualifying conditions for SSP can be found here: https://ow.ly/RArh50QLpes. In summary, the employee doesn’t have to serve three more waiting days and the outstanding balance of SSP entitlement would continue once the CSP top-up has ceased.

What’s the three waiting days rule when it comes to payment of SSP?

Are there tax implications when employees charge their cars at their place of work? Q: We offer a salary sacrifice lease car scheme and have installed charging points on site. We’re charging a subsidised rate of £0.25 per kW. Would there be any tax implications of this? A: Our understanding is that there’s no tax implication e.g., no benefit in kind (BiK), if an employer allows an employee to charge their own car or company car at their place of work. Please see the following link for further information: https://ow.ly/BelX50QLs23. Stopping BiKs mid-year Q: We have an employee who has opted out of their private medical benefit mid-year, and we don’t currently payroll our BiKs. What’s the best way for the employee to have the benefit removed from their tax code? A: The employee can log in to their personal tax account (PTA) and remove any company

How do you amend an incorrect start date on the payroll correctly?

Refund of childcare vouchers to a leaver Q: An employee who left our organisation seven years ago requires a

| Professional in Payroll, Pensions and Reward | April 2024 | Issue 99 8

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