MEMBERSHIP INSIGHT
On your behalf
Policy team update
Diana Bruce MCIPPdip, CIPP senior policy liaison officer , provides an update
Annual allowance calculator The annual allowance (AA) calculator was launched as a beta version on 28 September 2016 at the October meeting of the Pension Industry Stakeholder Forum at which HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) thanked all stakeholders who had participated in the user research. The version will enable HMRC to make further developments and improvements to the calculator as a result of user feedback and evidence of user needs from customers and stakeholders. Changes have been made which include addition of the 2012–13 tax year as a priority. Further planned changes include: ● inclusion of tax years 2009–10, 2010–11 and 2011–12 to enable pension scheme members to work out the unused AA available to carry forward to 2012–13 (which feeds into their calculations for 2015/16) ● changes to the AA calculator results page to make the results easier to follow so that customers will be able to see how the money purchase and alternative AA have been applied to their pension savings. These changes comprise: ❍ clarification around AA charges arising because of the money purchase AA rules ❍ identifying when the AA (or alternative AA) has been capped for period two in the 2015–16 tax year ❍ identifying when the earlier year unused AA is not included in the carry forward amount for the final year shown because it’s out of time.
● ignoring an order to operate a court attachment ● operating the attachment but failing to pay over the deductions ● operating and paying over but using incorrect references for either single or combined payments/employees. For employers and the payroll industry the issues can be summed up rather neatly in one word: guidance. We are unlikely to see a commitment from Government for the current handbook, which is an aging document, to be updated in its current format. Steps (albeit small steps) have begun to persuade the Cabinet office (owner of GOV.UK) to allow space on GOV.UK for updated and comprehensive guidance on the subject of pay attachments. In other words, watch this space. Thank you for the volunteers who have come forward to be involved in future working group meetings. Employer prompts v GNS messages Shortly after the 2016–17 tax year began, employers began to receive employer prompts issued in the event that a student loan SL1 notice had been issued but the full payment submission did not report student loan deductions. As the tax year progressed the number of employer prompts being issued diminished. December 2016 saw an update to the Student loan repayments: guidance for employers page on GOV.UK, which began to provide an explanation as to the reason these prompts would be issued via the
An area of concern highlighted at the October meeting was around cases where earlier years do matter within calculations, as without amendments the calculator may give an incorrect tax charge. Changes will be made to the landing page to caveat any issues with the calculator. ...the issues can be summed up rather neatly in one word: guidance If you have any other changes that you’d like HMRC to consider, please email them to pensions.businessdelivery@ hmrc.gsi.gov.uk and put ‘annual allowance calculator’ in the subject line of the email. External stakeholder work together with HMCTS A meeting of external stakeholders came together with HM Courts and Tribunal Service (HMCTS) on 1 December 2016 to take forward work that began in summer, the aspiration being that at the conclusion of our collaborative working we will see improved guidance for employers and improved employer compliance with the administration of court attachment orders. The aim of this meeting was to clarify what the most significant issues were for HMCTS and for employers and the payroll industry and see what steps can be taken to improve our combined experiences. Employer non-compliance can occur in many ways, including:
| Professional in Payroll, Pensions and Reward | February 2017 | Issue 27 4
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