HMRC announce latest taskforces

The latest targets in HMRC’s sights are tax dodger’s involved in:

• the holiday industry in Blackpool, Lake District, North Wales, Devon and Cornwall
• restaurants in Yorkshire and Humber
• road hauliers in the Midlands and
• the fishing industry in Scotland.

David Gauke, the Exchequer Secretary to the Treasury, said:

‘We are determined to support hardworking people who want to get on in this industry and every other. However, the people being targeted by this taskforce have no intention of playing by the rules. The Government has made it clear that we will not tolerate tax evasion and we have provided HMRC with the resources to crack down on those who break the rules.’

HMRC have collected more than £80 million as a result of taskforces launched since 2011/12 and expect to recover over £90 million per year from taskforces launched over the next three years.

Internet link: Press release

Real Time Information and annual schemes

HMRC have received a number of requests since April 2013 from employers, asking for the status of their PAYE schemes to be changed to ‘annual’ which is only an option where employees are only paid once a year.

Unfortunately HMRC are currently unable to process requests from employers to:

• move to paying annually and register as an annual scheme
• change their payment frequency.

HMRC expect to have resolved this issue by the end of July and will confirm this on their website in the ‘What’s New’ section. Until that time, if an employer does not pay any employees, they should send in a ‘nil’ Employer Payment Summary by the 19th of each month.

When the fix is in place, HMRC will accept all the requests that have been made and change those schemes to annual. They will then provide information on what action should be taken once the fix is in place.

Internet link: HMRC What’s New

 

Employee share ownership

The Department for Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS) has published some useful guidance on employee share ownership following the Nuttall review.

The documentation includes some company model documentation together with guidance for employees on taxation matters.

Internet link: HMRC website

Government publishes ‘Supporting automatic enrolment’

Under Pensions Auto Enrolment employers will have to automatically enrol eligible workers in a qualifying pension scheme and make pension contributions for those employees. The Auto Enrolment process is being rolled out in stages and the contributions will be increased over time to broadly 8%.

The government backed pensions option is the National Employment Savings Trust (NEST) which has received some criticism. To establish the level of concern, the Department of Work and Pensions sought views and evidence on whether the annual contribution limit and transfers restriction would impact many employers and employees. The government has now published the response to consultation.

Steve Webb Minister for Pensions said:

‘With over 250,000 members already, it is clear that NEST is a success. Targeting low to moderate earners that the market has traditionally forgotten, NEST has innovated with its use of language and investment strategy and has ensured that everyone has access to quality pension provision. That is why I am not making any changes until 2017, when automatic enrolment is fully rolled-out. At this point I will lift the contribution limit so that NEST remains a force for good in the marketplace, driving up standards and best practice.’

‘The position on bulk transfers is much the same. As huge numbers of employers gear-up to start to enrol their workers, we need NEST to focus on getting these people in to pension saving. Once this is achieved and the market is established, the restrictions on bulk transfers will be lifted.’

If you would like further advice on Pensions Auto Enrolment please do get in touch.

Internet link: Press release