Employees

Edition in summary

M Macklin v CRC, Upper Tribunal

Employers will not incur penalties for delays of up to three days in filing PAYE information, HMRC have confirmed.

There will be no changes to the submission deadlines, and employers with fewer than 50 employees will still be subject to late-filing fines from 6 March. But late-payment sanctions will be reviewed on a risk-assessed basis, rather than issued automatically.

The Revenue intends to next month close about 15,000 PAYE schemes that have not made a report since April 2013 and appear to have ceased, in an effort yo prevent unnecessary penalties being issued.

M Allan v CRC, Upper Tribunal (Tax and Chancery Chamber)

Is there a relatively easy way to include hassle-free claims for protective clothing?

HMRC have backtracked on their ambition to temporarily withhold details of PAYE code changes from workers.

HMRC have taken the latest step in their review of the use of overarching contracts (OACs) in the temporary labour market to take advantage of rules for travel expenses.

Revenue officials believe the use of OACs by some employment businesses and umbrella companies allows temporary workers to benefit from tax and National Insurance relief on home-to-work travel expenses

HS Patel (TC4189)

HMRC have extended the registration deadline of their contractor loan settlement opportunity.

Taxpayers now have until 30 June to notify the department that they wish to take part in the tax disclosure facility that was originally scheduled to close on 9 January.

A contractor loan scheme settlement is an arrangement in which a non-UK employer pays a worker untaxed income or a loan, instead of all or part of a salary. Individuals who take part in such a scheme may still have to pay income tax.

Employers are set to receive the first quarterly notices under real-time information’s late-filing penalties regime, which began in October for businesses with 50 or more members of staff.

Firms that have incurred fines can expect the HMRC messages from the beginning of February, according to the department. Advisers will not be sent a copy, but each notice will instruct employers with agents to pass on the correspondence immediately.

Secondary legislation is set to simplify PAYE regulations from 6 March 2015. The change will remove the requirement for employers to complete the end-of-year checklist when making their final full payment submission (FPS) for the year from 2014/15.

The checklist comprises a box on the FPS that opens the end-of-year declaration, consisting of seven questions. This was a feature of the now defunct P35, which was incorporated into the design of the FPS.

The government will not proceed with plans for a new employee shareholding vehicle, it has been announced.