Payroll news
Statutory payments 2019–20 THE DEPARTMENT for Work and Pensions (DWP) has announced proposed revised amounts for various statutory payments from April 2019. Though the DWP has yet to confirm the effective dates, the following reflects the position of most changes occurring on the first Sunday in April. ● Statutory maternity pay (SMP) – The weekly rate of SMP increases to £148.68 with effect Sunday 7 April 2019. To qualify for SMP, the employee must have average weekly earnings (AWE) of at least: ● Statutory adoption pay (SAP) – The weekly rate of SAP increases to £148.68 with effect Sunday 7 April 2019. To qualify for SAP the employee must have AWE of at least: m £118, if matching or notification occurs on or after 7 April 2019 m £116, if matching or notification occurs on or before 6 April 2019. ● Statutory paternity pay (SPP) – The weekly rate of SPP increases to £148.68 with effect Sunday 7 April 2019. To be entitled to SPP the employee must have AWE of at least: m £118, if the baby is due on or after 21 July 2019 (or the adoption matching or notification occurs on or after 7 April 2019) m £116, if the baby is due on or before 20 July 2019 (or if the adoption matching or notification occurs on or before 6 April 2019). ● Statutory shared parental pay (SShPP) – The weekly rate of SShPP increases to £148.68 with effect Sunday 7 April 2019. To be entitled to SShPP the employee must have AWE of at least: m £118, if the baby is due on or after 21 July 2019 (or the adoption matching or notification occurs on or after 7 April 2019) m £116, if the baby is due on or before 20 July 2019 (or if the adoption matching or notification occurs on or before 6 April 2019). ● Statutory sick pay (SSP) – The weekly rate of SSP increases to £94.25, from 6 April 2019. To be entitled to SSP for any periods of incapacity for work (PIW) commencing on or after 6 April 2018 (and which do not link to an earlier PIW) employees must have AWE of at least £118. If the employee’s maternity, adoption, shared parental or paternity pay period started on a day other than a Sunday, the new weekly rate of SMP, SAP, SPP or SShPP does not apply until the beginning of the first complete SMP-, SAP-, SPP- or SShPP-week following Sunday 7 April. It is expected that employers will continue to be able to recover 92% of SMP, SAP, SPP and SShPP and that ‘small’ employers will be able to recover 100% of SMP, SPP, SAP and SShPP plus a further 3% as ‘compensation’ for the employer (secondary) NICs incurred. m £118, if the baby is due on or after 21 July 2019 m £116, if the baby is due on or before 20 July 2019.
AE earnings trigger and thresholds THE DWP has proposed annual earnings trigger and qualifying earnings (QE) thresholds for 2019–20: ● the earnings trigger will stay at £10,000 ● the QE lower limit will increase to £6,136 (from £6,032) ● the QE upper limit will increase to £50,000 (from £46,350). The derived weekly and monthly equivalents of the lower and upper limits have yet to be announced. Advisory fuel rates THE ADVISORY fuel rates changed with effect 1 December 2018 and apply, until further notice, to all journeys made on or after this date. For one month from the date of change, employers could choose to use either the previous or revised rates. Employers may therefore make or require supplementary payments if they so wish but are under no obligation to do either. HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) will accept that if the employer pays up to 4 pence per mile when reimbursing their employees for business travel in a fully electric company car there is no taxable profit and no class 1 National Insurance contributions (NICs) to pay. The advisory electricity rate will be published alongside advisory fuel rates and kept under review. Employers can, however, use their own rate which better reflects circumstances if, for example, the cars are more efficient, or if the cost of business travel is higher than the guideline rate. Scottish income tax 2019–20 Under provisions of the Scotland Act 2016, Scotland’s can set the bands and rates of income tax for fiscal years. The following rates and bands, which were announced in the Scottish Budget delivered in December (https://bit.ly/2s9zOaF), will have effect for tax year 2019–20, subject to approval by Scotland’s parliament: ● 19% starter rate – £12,500 to £14,549 ● 20% basic rate – £14,549 to £24,944 ● 21% intermediate rate – £24,944 to £43,430 ● 41% higher rate – £43,430 to £150,000 ● 46% top rate – over £150,000. Engine size Petrol Diesel LPG Up to 1400cc 11p 9p 7p 1401cc to 1600cc 14p 9p 9p 1601cc to 2000cc 11p Over 2000cc 21p 13p 14p
Diary dates
2 February 5 February
Due date for returns P46(Car) for quarter to 5 January 2019
Last day of tax month 10
6 February
First day of tax month 11
Last day for submitting a real time information employer payment summary to apply to tax month 10
19 February
Deadline for payment of PAYE and NICs etc to HMRC’s Accounts Office by non-electronic method Deadline for payment of PAYE and NICs etc to HMRC’s Accounts Office by electronic method
22 February
| Professional in Payroll, Pensions and Reward | February 2019 | Issue 47 16
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