The coronavirus (COVID-19) ‘lock-down’ has necessitated large swathes of the working population to perform their duties from home. As a result, working-from-home has become the ‘new normal’ for many employees in recent months. Employers will be considering how best to assist their employees to work most efficiently and effectively from home while the lock-down endures. … Continue Reading
Since 6 April 2018 companies have been unable to grant new EMI options, because the existing EU state aid approval expired without fresh approval having been received. So there has been much excitement today at the news that the EU Commission has now given state aid approval, and companies can now grant new EMI options. … Continue Reading
To celebrate the new tax year, we provide a round-up of some of the pensions measures that come into force on 6 April 2018. Bulk transfer without consent of DC benefits At last, trustees and employers can close an occupational money purchase (DC) plan without the pension plan actuary having to decide how the certification requirement … Continue Reading
The vagaries of EU State Aid approvals probably pass most of us by. However, they have come centre stage for many SMEs with HMRC’s announcement that it is not expected that an extension to the UK’s existing State Aid approval for EMI options will be granted before 6th April, when the current approval expires. HMRC … Continue Reading
Football, football teams, footballers, footballer’s pay… a comprehensive review of the case law on the taxation of termination payments… this one has got it all! The match… the case (HM Revenue & Customs v Tottenham Hotspur Limited) concerns termination payments made to Peter Crouch and Wilson Palacios. The facts are relatively straightforward. Both player’s contracts with Tottenham … Continue Reading
Alongside the almost complete reversal of recent cuts in the main rate of corporation tax (returning it to 26% by 2020-21 – a rate not seen since 2011 or, rather, the time of the last Labour government), the proposal to introduce a so-called ‘Robin Hood’ tax on financial derivatives (a proposal mired by its own complexity … Continue Reading
Just a quick reminder that the deadline for making annual returns for UK share schemes relating to the 2015/2016 tax year is 6 July 2016. For tax-advantaged share schemes: share incentive plans (otherwise known as SIPs); company share option plans (CSOPs); savings-related share option schemes (SAYE/Sharesave); and Enterprise Management Incentives (EMI), if a new scheme … 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
Hot off the press, an announcement from HMRC Share Schemes: “ERS Online service We are aware of some technical issues that are being investigated as a matter of urgency, and apologise for any inconvenience caused to customers. As customers will be unable to file their annual return by the 6 July 2015 deadline we will … Continue Reading
Following on from our earlier blog post predicting that companies might have issues when using the new online service for registering employee share plans with HMRC, it appears that problems are indeed emerging. Despite the looming deadline of 6 July, we hear anecdotal reports that so far only about 25% of plans have been registered. In … Continue Reading
In several posts last year, we charted the development of the new HMRC rules for the online registering, self-certifying and making of annual returns for share plans, and indeed all arrangements under which employees receive shares. Now the dust has settled, the teething troubles have been ironed out and the templates for the new “end-of-year” returns … 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
HMRC has recently released template forms and guidance notes for making online annual returns for employee share plans, plus a form for notifying the grant of Enterprise Management Incentive options online (the former paper form EMI1). There are dire warnings that the templates must not be tinkered with in any way, otherwise they will be … Continue Reading
As the dust settles on the eagerly awaited HMRC v Martin decision (see our previous blog post), thoughts are inevitably turning to how that decision impacts on an employer’s approach to clawback payments, particularly in the world of variable remuneration. Whilst the judge in the Martin decision was clear that his conclusion turned on the … Continue Reading
The pressure for companies and firms to claw back earnings paid to executives under various incentive plans has been steadily growing over the last couple of years. There was the clarification in the ABI guidelines on directors’ remuneration on which we reported last November, to PIRC’s two penn’orth on the topic in March, the Bank … Continue Reading
The best advice to an unquoted company granting EMI options has always been to agree the value of a share with HMRC shortly before grant. This gives certainty: the company will know that it isn’t breaching the £3 million limit on the value of EMI options it can grant; the option holder can be comfortable knowing that all … Continue Reading
HMRC has announced that the settlement facility for employee benefit trusts (EBTs) will be withdrawn from 31 March 2015. The facility was offered from April 2011 for employers who set up EBTs that HMRC considers are caught by the “disguised remuneration” legislation introduced in the 2011 Finance Act. This was aimed at the use of EBTs … Continue Reading
As trailed in our previous post, HMRC has just published the FAQs about its new online service for share plans. It’s clear that it’s very much do-it-yourself. If you want confirmation that your registration of a share plan or notification of an EMI option grant was successful, make sure you print and save a copy of … Continue Reading
The latest issue of HMRC’s Employment-Related Securities Bulletin acknowledges the problems that some companies have been having with online notification and reporting, as mentioned in our earlier post. The bulletin sets out what companies should do about two particular issues: not being able to file notifications of grants of EMI options online by the 92-day … Continue Reading
You don’t need to have a season ticket at Ibrox to be familiar with the difficult few seasons that Rangers FC has faced, both on and off the pitch. Despite securing promotion to the Scottish Championship earlier this year, the club and its fans are still feeling the effects of this famous name going into … Continue Reading
