Tax credits are state benefits which
are generally available to lower income
families. However, entitlement to the
credits is significantly increased where
individuals pay for childcare or have
a dip in normal levels of income perhaps
due to incurring trading losses.
The government has published
details of a new savings scheme which
will give all employees the right to
a workplace pension with
a contribution from their employer. At present employers
with five employees have to offer access
to a pension scheme but do not have to
make an employer contribution.
The long running saga of Geoff and Diana
Jones and their company Arctic Systems
Limited has been back to the courts last
week, this time to the House of Lords.
A couple of months ago we reported on
the government’s proposal to increase
the minimum statutory holiday entitlement
from the current 20 days (including bank
holidays) to 28 days (bank holidays inclusive).
The 28 days equates to 5.6 weeks for
an employee working a five day week.
From 1 June 2007 first
time adult passport applicants will no
longer be able to use the fast track
application service due to a new requirement
which means that they may have to attend
a face to face interview. The applications
made by these individuals will have to
be made through the full application
process which takes about six weeks.
Not sure what is a sensible driving
policy for your business? The Department
for Transport (DFT) has set up a new
website which contains practical guidance
to help businesses comply with their
legal obligations.
The forms P11D, which report employees
and directors benefits in kind and expenses
for the year ended 5 April 2007 are due
for submission to HMRC by 6 July 2007.
The process of tracking down the information
can take some time so don’t leave
things until the last minute.
HMRC have issued
a reminder to employers concerning
their PAYE online service. The
online service, which is used
by many employers to submit the
employer annual returns P35 and
P14, is also used by HMRC to
issue PAYE notices and reminders
back to the employer.