The adult rate of the National Minimum Wage (NMW) increases to £5.80 (£5.73) an hour from 1 October 2009. This is payable to those age 22 and over. The hourly development rate increases to £4.83 (£4.77) and for 16 and 17 year olds to £3.57 (£3.53) an hour. HMRC are able to charge penalties to […]

HMRC have issued guidance for businesses dealing with the increase in the standard rate of VAT from 15% to 17.5%. The change takes effect from 1 January 2010. They hope that by issuing the guidance well in advance of the change that businesses will have sufficient time to prepare. If you would like guidance in […]

The weekly maximum pay which can be taken into account when calculating statutory redundancy pay is set to increase from 1 October 2009. Employees who have at least two years’ continuous service qualify for a redundancy payment. The entitlement is as follows: for each complete year of service until the age of 21 – half […]

Under provisions contained in the Pensions Act 2008 employee pension enrolment and employer contributions are to be made compulsory. These provisions, which are due to come into force in 2012, cover the automatic enrolment of qualifying workers into a qualifying workplace pension scheme and a duty on employers to make contributions to such a scheme. […]

For those wishing to complete paper self assessment tax returns, the filing deadline of 31 October 2009 is fast approaching. The 31 January 2010 deadline remains for online submission of 2008/09 self assessment tax returns. Those wishing to make a paper return need to start compiling the information they need now. This includes a copy […]

From 1 August 2009 the national minimum wage (NMW) for apprentices increased from £80 to £95 per week. This announcement was originally made in September 2008, when TUC General Secretary, Brendan Barber, said: “The announcement will be a welcome boost for the thousands of low-paid apprentices, particularly women, who are struggling to make ends meet.” […]

HMRC have updated their guidance on scam emails as they are aware that a large number of individuals are receiving emails offering tax rebates. HMRC have also confirmed that they would not inform taxpayers of a tax rebate via email, or request that they complete an online form to receive a rebate of tax.  There […]

The government has been looking at the best way to address the issue of what they believe is ‘false self-employment’ in the construction industry. They have concluded, for income tax and national insurance purposes, that they will introduce legislation which deems workers within the construction industry to be in receipt of employment income unless one […]

HMRC have provided more details of the New Disclosure Opportunity (NDO) which is due to take place from 1 September 2009 to 12 March 2010. The NDO is for people with unpaid tax connected to offshore accounts and assets and will give the taxpayers one final opportunity to disclose. To encourage taxpayers to disclose undeclared […]

HMRC have issued important updates in advance of the changes in the place of supply of services rules which take effect from 1 January 2010. This guidance is part of a package of measures being introduced to simplify and modernise the VAT system for cross-border trading and to counter fraud across the EU. The measures […]