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Taxfile Autumn 2017 Newsletter

Autumn Newsletter 2017 – Tax News, Tips & Recommendations

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Taxfile's Autumn 2017 newsletter for limited company clients

Taxfile’s Autumn 2017 newsletter for limited company clients is ready to view. It’s jam-packed full of useful tax- and Taxfile-related news so grab a hot drink and take a ten minute read. It may save you money and will certainly make you aware of some important HMRC deadlines coming up in the near future. Articles include:

    • Farewell to Ali
    • Bank Downloads Save Time & Money
    • Deadlines & Key Dates
    • The Future is Digital
    • Accounting for VAT
    • Have you made a Capital Gain?
    • Assets Overseas? Non-Resident Landlord? Read This!
    • Do you Employ People?
    • C.I.S. Subbies: Claim your Tax Refund for Christmas!
    • The Benefits of Using Taxfile
    • All Your Tax & Accounting Needs Taken Care of
    • Tax Affairs in a Mess?
    • Who Works at Taxfile?

You can Read more

Automatic Enrolment for WorkPlace Pensions

Automatic Enrolment for WorkPlace Pensions: Many SMEs Are Still Confused

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Back in April we wrote about the new Workplace Pensions and Automatic Enrolment. Since then some concerning information has been brought to light following some research by HW Fisher & Company:

  • 67% of the 750 SMEs responding to the survey said that they have no idea when their ‘Staging Date’ is;
  • 49% of them said that they understand little or nothing about the preparations they will have to make;
  • 35% said they don’t know how to start the process so have done absolutely nothing so far;
  • 30% of the respondents are concerned about the set-up costs;
  • 32% of them said that they do not know how to gauge the future impact of participating in Workplace Pensions;
  • 62% are worried about the costs of continuously having to make employer contributions to staff pensions;
  • and 47% voiced concerns about the additional administrative overhead which would be involved managing the scheme.

The findings are not surprising. After all, many SMEs will not have any previous knowledge of dealing with staff pension schemes, nor will they have experience or perhaps even the budget to cover the associated costs. While the reasoning behind the introduction of WorkPlace Pensions and Automatic Enrolment is sound, the reality is that this is likely to become another unwelcome administrative burden for the smaller business owner – and of course it represents Read more

Automatic Enrolment for WorkPlace Pensions

Workplace Pensions & Automatic Enrolment

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Between October 2012 and 2018, all UK employers must have complied with the new government initiative and have enrolled all eligible staff into a new ‘Workplace Pension’, a process known as automatic enrolment. Employers will each be allocated a staging date, which is the date by which they must launch the new Workplace Pension scheme for eligible employees. Failure to comply could mean penalties and enforcement actions being taken against the non-compliant employers.

Who pays in?

  • Employees who do not opt out of the scheme* will pay a minimum percentage of their earnings above £5,668 (figure correct at time of writing);
  • Employers will also contribute to the pension fund for employees;
  • The Government also helps because payments into the scheme are, in effect, tax-free.

What date do employers have to launch the scheme?

The date that the scheme goes live will vary from one employer to another, based primarily on the number of employees in the organisation. Larger employers will launch earlier (from October 2012) while those employing only a few employees will launch later (up to 2018). The exact launch date is known as the ‘staging date’ and employers can find out their own particular staging date by visiting this link and entering their PAYE reference. The Pensions Regulator advises that, once they know their staging date, employers should begin preparations at least 12 months in advance.

A quick PDF guide to preparing for automatic enrolment can be found by right-clicking this link or by visiting the Pensions Regulator help area. Tools for creating an employer’s action plan are also available, here.

Eligible Staff

Eligible staff are employees who Read more

National Minimum Wage for Interns

National Minimum Wage for Interns

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Her Majesty’s Revenue & Customs (‘HMRC’) is clamping down on employers who employ interns without paying them at least the National Minimum Wage. While internships are a very important mechanism for students and graduates to gain work experience and to move towards full-time employment, all too often in the past, some companies and organisations have used interns as a way to get work done for free.

So UK employers must now abide by the national minimum wage laws, which covers both interns and those on work experience as well as anyone who can be considered a worker. If they don’t, they may Read more