On Tuesday, 21 July 2020, the Government announced further good news for companies operating enterprise management incentive (EMI) share option schemes that will allow them to continue to grant new options to individuals who: have been furloughed under the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme (CJRS), or have taken unpaid leave, or have had their working hours … Continue Reading
With most employer’s minds currently focused on the upcoming changes to the IR35 regime, it’s important they do not forget about forthcoming updates to the tax treatment of termination payments which are also due to take effect next month. Employer’s NIC on Termination payments Currently, the only tax on termination payments made to employees to … Continue Reading
The off-payroll tax rules (commonly known as IR35) are changing on 6 April 2020. Pension trustees who have members of their board paid for their services through a personal service company (PSC) may need to start making those payments net of income tax and NICs under PAYE. Although the rules have not been finalised (and HMRC … Continue Reading
It’s a while since we last commented on VAT on pensions but we return with some good news which HMRC have quietly slipped out in updated content to the VAT Manual. Back in 2014, following the PPG case, HMRC proposed withdrawing their practice of allowing employers to recover VAT on charges on administration costs for … Continue Reading
The Conservative manifesto, ‘Forward, Together’, unveiled late last week by Theresa May, was notable rather less for reiterating commitments to traditional, small government, Conservative principles of ‘low tax’ and ‘better regulation’ and rather more for its embrace of social inclusion, identifying a “need [for] a partnership between the individual and the wider nation, between private … Continue Reading
The UK government has announced the abolition of the tax benefits of employee shareholder status in today’s Autumn Statement. The change applies to shares issued on or after 1 December 2016. Since there has to be a minimum 7 clear days notice between the individual employee being advised on the implications of employee shareholder status … Continue Reading
Keen readers will recall the long-running saga of the correct treatment of VAT incurred by employers on pension fund costs. Following rulings by the ECJ, HMRC had determined that it needed to change existing UK practice. In particular, this affected defined benefit schemes where HMRC had allowed employers to recover some, but not all, of … Continue Reading
You may remember that HMRC said they would issue further guidance on the VAT treatment of DB pension fund administration costs over the summer. Well, by my reckoning we are well and truly into autumn but HMRC have today published a new Brief. Has it resolved matters? In short (and, sadly) No. First, we have official … Continue Reading
The UK’s National Association of Pension Funds (NAPF) has rebranded itself as the Pensions and Lifetime Savings Association (PLSA). Why the change? The PLSA says it better reflects changes to the way retirement provision is made, with people working longer and funding retirement in new ways, as well as having new rights to access their … Continue Reading
On 7 July we reported that HMRC’s online filing system for employment related shares was down – worrying, given the 6 July filing deadline. Things finally seem to be returning to normal but some issues are still being reported as it appears HMRC are limiting the number of concurrent users of the system so that error … Continue Reading
As widely trailed, the UK government has confirmed in the Summer Budget on 8 July that pensions tax relief for those earning more than £150,000 will be severely restricted from April 2016 – relief will be tapered to a minimum of £10,000 a year. In addition, the government announced that it is launching a consultation … Continue Reading
HMRC has now issued further guidance on the implications of the CJEU rulings in ATP and PPG, two cases that dealt with the VAT treatment of costs incurred by pension funds. Clarification of HMRC’s approach has been eagerly awaited, following consultation with a range of industry bodies. So where do things stand now? Defined contribution … Continue Reading
Back in February, HMRC issued Brief 06/14 outlining their response to the European Court decision in the PPG case. This promised a change in the long accepted practice of allowing employers to recover a proportion of VAT incurred on the administration of defined benefit pension schemes – the so-called 70/30 rule. HMRC planned to scrap … Continue Reading
The Budget did not contain much that was new in relation to employment tax issues. Many of the measures had been previously announced. However, there has been further information published in the past week and today in relation to a number of changes, including revisions to the legislation on dual employment contracts and further guidance on … Continue Reading
Today’s Budget was notable for the absence of announcements relating to employee share plans. So, despite the calls for it to be abolished, employee shareholder status lives to fight another day. This is perhaps not surprising given the enthusiasm George Osborne showed for the concept when it was first announced. As we have commented, ESS … Continue Reading
We have changed the way you can access information about UK executive remuneration through the blog site. The Remuneration Tracker document has been replaced by a UK Executive Remuneration Resource Centre. The Resource Centre has all the information and links that you could find in the old Tracker document but we have taken the opportunity to … Continue Reading
The VAT treatment of UK pension fund management costs has become a bit of a minefield in recent years, with a number of long-running court cases impacting on employers and pension fund trustees. In the latest twist, HMRC have now issued a Brief in response to the EU Court’s ruling in the Dutch PPG case. HMRC have conceded … Continue Reading
