Employees

Supplementary questions aimed at bolstering HMRC poll

What are the Class 1 NIC implications for the UK employee of a French company?

The government has unveiled proposals for payroll giving that will enable employers to encourage charitable donations more easily and allow organisations faster access to the sums.

HMRC have launched a challenge to arrangements used by contractors and other professionals to mitigate tax by entering into a contract of employment with an offshore employer while providing their services in the UK.

Participants receive a substantial proportion of the fees for their services in payments said to be loans. The Revenue does not agree that the arrangements succeed in avoiding tax.

The HMRC student loan panel is looking for volunteers to attend a group for customer user process improvement sessions that will be held around the country in early October. They will last for between an hour and 90 minutes.

The panel is interested in speaking to employers and agents who handle the deduction of student loans and self assessment taxpayers with a student loan. 

P Tindale (TC2749)

More than 1.6m employer PAYE schemes are already now under the real-time information (RTI) system, covering over 40m individual record, according to HMRC. The announcement comes as the department writes to urge another 167,000 firms to join RTI, having missed one or more deadlines for reporting PAYE.

Bosses should contact the Revenue’s employer helpline on 0300 200 3200 if have not reported because they no longer pay staff members, or because their PAYE scheme has closed or is no longer operating.

Is the new expenses set-up for the self-employed easy to use?

HMRC have announced new fuel rates for company cars, which will apply to all journeys on or after 1 September 2013 until further notice.

Employers may use either the previous rates or the new ones for one month from the date of change. They may make or require supplementary payments but are under no obligation to do either. Petrol hybrid cars are treated as petrol cars for this purpose. The amounts can be used for VAT, but receipts must be retained.

Reasons for disputed liabilities under real-time information

HMRC have launched an online survey to ascertain how difficult employers and agents are finding the real-time information (RTI) obligation to report PAYE details on or before employees’ payday.

Respondents must have several numbers to hand to complete the poll, which closes on 13 September 2013:

The complex system for reporting and taxing employee benefits and expenses is ripe for an overhaul, according to an interim report from the Office of Tax Simplification (OTS).

The document identifies issues for further study, including the payrolling of benefits, abolishing the £8,500 higher-paid threshold, and smoothing the differences between tax and National Insurance rules.