The report reveals that the government will be accepting 35 of those, partially accepting eight and rejecting outright one which was recommended that the NMW penalty multiplier be the subject of independent evaluation.
In rejecting this recommendation the report confirms:
‘The Government accepts the importance of understanding the effect of the current NMW penalty multiplier. As HMRC enforces breaches that are up to 6 years old, it will take around 6 years from the date that the new rate was set in 2016 for its full effect to take hold. We will evaluate the effect of the multiplier once the full cycle of cases have taken place under the current level and so the Government rejects the recommendation to undertake an evaluation at this time. BEIS work with HMRC to continuously monitor the impact of the enforcement regime, including penalties, and will continue to do so’
The Government response to the UK Labour Market Enforcement Strategy 2019/2020 can be read in full at gov.uk.
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Director of payroll services company disqualified over ‘contentious payments’ equating to £2.7 millio n 19 October 2020 In July 2018, Jonas Stankevicius, 27, was appointed the sole director of S Jonas Solutions Limited, while the payroll services company was incorporated. Shortly after, in December 2018, the company entered into creditors voluntary liquidation. The Insolvency Service became aware of the length of trading of the company and the fact that it had gone into liquidation, and subsequently decided to investigate a number of ‘contentious payments’. It soon became apparent that Stankevicius did not comply with record-keeping requirements, and therefore did not have sufficient adequate accounting records. Neither liquidators or investigators could determine whether or not £2.73 million in payments that were made from the payroll company’s bank account were legitimate, in the period between August and October 2018. The distinct lack of records also meant that there was no way of calculating the amount of tax liabilities that S Jonas Solutions owed. On 15 September 2020, as a result of the fact that Stankevicius did not contest the fact that he had failed to keep adequate accounting records, or that he had failed to provide these records to the liquidator, he was banned from being involved in the promotion, formation or management of a company, for eight years, commencing on 6 October 2020. The only exception to this would be if he received the permission of the court.
A press release from the Insolvency Service confirmed that its Chief Investigator, Mark Bruce, said:
“All directors have a statutory requirement to maintain company accounting records. Jonas Stankevicius, however, completely disregarded his responsibilities and as a direct consequence of his actions, he couldn’t explain the legitimacy of £2.7 million of payments paid out of the payroll company’s accounts over just two months. But his misconduct has caught up with him and Jonas Stankevicius has been banned for eight years, which should serve as a warning to other rogue directors that your misconduct could see you being removed from the business environment for a substantial amount of time.”
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Seasonal BACS processing dates - Dare we mention the “C” word?!? 28 October 2020
This time of year hosts many deadlines that payroll professionals need to be aware of, therefore it would be prudent to remind ourselves of the BACS processing deadlines for the seasonal period.
The Chartered Institute of Payroll Professionals
Payroll: need to know
cipp.org.uk
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