Employment tax

Tax / Tribunal denies HMRC £583k in referee appeal

The First Tier Tribunal (FTT) has upheld an appeal against HMRC, ruling that it should have treated a group of professional football referees as contractors and not as employees, reports James Bunney
14 Sep 2018

Tax / Salary sacrifice schemes: what are VAT implications?

Salary sacrifice schemes, under which employees agree to a reduction in salary in exchange for certain benefits, may have VAT implications for the employer. Sarah Kay, tax writer at Croner-i, looks at whether VAT was owed on salary sacrifice schemes in the recent Pertemps case
12 Sep 2018

Tax / Treasury abandons plan to abolish Class 2 NICs

The government has announced that it is not going to proceed as planned with the abolition of Class 2 national insurance contributions (NICs), which was originally scheduled for April 2018, then delayed to April 2019
7 Sep 2018

Tax / Employment tax updates: September 2018

Jackie Hall ACA CTA, partner at RSM on PAYE accounts, HMRC issues warning on outstanding contractor loans, apprenticeship levy guidance updated
3 Sep 2018

Tax / Dodwell: historic approach to tax fails to recognise reality

Bill Dodwell LLB CTA, senior policy adviser at OTS, considers how the history of PAYE will impact engagers and online platforms following the release of two HMRC consultations
29 Aug 2018

Tax / HMRC warning on PAYE tax avoidance via umbrella companies

HMRC is warning people about the potential risks of using some remuneration arrangements offered via agencies and umbrella companies which are marketed as saving tax and increasing take home pay, but are in effect tax avoidance schemes and open to challenge
23 Aug 2018

Tax / Confusion over carer sleep-in payment rules

HMRC has been accused of ‘jumping the gun’ in its latest communication on back pay arrangements for ‘sleep-in’ carers, which at one point looked likely to create a £400m back pay liability for service providers, with a social care industry group calling for further clarification
21 Aug 2018

Tax / Q&A: statutory maternity pay, redundancy and PAYE

When an employee is made redundant and is receiving statutory maternity pay (SMP), Lizabeth Lay, tax & payroll adviser at Croner Taxwise explains the employer liability for payments, tax code calculations and PAYE compliance issues 
21 Aug 2018

Tax / IR35: when is contracting employment in disguise?

Government plans to extend the offpayroll working rules to the private sector as early as April 2019 will create difficulties for contractors and business so it is essential to review contracts to ensure there are no unexpected disputes with HMRC over tax liability or accusations of disguised employment. Andrew Brookes, head of employment solutions at Menzies LLP, considers the proposals
16 Aug 2018

Tax / PAYE withholding tax for gig platform workers too confusing

The Office of Tax Simplification has proposed changing the tax rules for self-employed platform workers with the introduction of a sector-specific PAYE withholding tax but how would it work? David Williams-Richardson, partner in the employer solutions team at RSM, considers the pros and cons
15 Aug 2018

Tax / Calls for HMRC to delay IR35 private sector extension

HMRC’s consultation on extending the IR35 rules covering off-payroll working to the private sector closed last week, and contractor organisations are indicating there has been a groundswell of protest against the proposals, which have attracted controversy since their introduction in the public sector
13 Aug 2018

Tax / Amazon headlines fail to account for full contribution to UK economy

A low corporation tax bill does not tell the whole story about Amazon's approach to tax compliance. Chris Denning, head of corporation tax at MHA MacIntyre Hudson argues that there are wider issues at play and job creation, employment taxes and employer NICs
8 Aug 2018

Tax / ICAEW calls on HMRC to fix off-payroll tax rules

Following a meeting with HMRC on 21 June 2018 to discuss proposals for the rollout of off-payroll working to the private sector, ICAEW has published an in-depth letter calling for improvements
7 Aug 2018

Tax / How does GDPR affect payroll?

The General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) has overhauled the way data is stored and used, and payroll is just another area where data compliance is critical. Hannah Wright, payroll product marketing manager at Sage reviews the implications for payroll
7 Aug 2018

Tax / HMRC performance sees revenue and cost improvements

The latest figures from HMRC on its performance show some improvement in revenue collected and cost savings over the previous year’s quarter, but response times at its call centres have deteriorated alongside a drop in customer satisfaction
2 Aug 2018

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