In a statement to the house of Lords, Baroness Barran has confirmed the thresholds for student loan Plan 2 and the postgraduate loan will remain the same as the 21/22 threshold. This is a change in policy first made by the Government in 2010.
| Annual Threshold | |
| Plan 2 | £27,295 |
| Postgraduate | £21,000 |
Boris Johnson and Rishi Sunak have confirmed in a Sunday Times article that the NI increase will go ahead as planned from April 22.
There had been requests from the other political parties, and some Tory MPs to rethink the increases, which will impact on both employees and employers.
The change will see a 1.25% increase in both employees and employers National Insurance. There will also be a 1.25% tax increase in share dividends.
The temporary extension to allow employees to self-certify sickness absence for 28 days, as opposed to the usual 7 days, has finished. The extension was granted to reduce the pressure on GPs whilst the coronavirus booster programme was rolled out.
In other COVID news, the Coronavirus Statutory Sick Pay Rebate Scheme has been relaunched. Further details can be found here!
This year will mark 10 years since auto enrolment was first introduced. In that time it has gone from a relatively unknown regulation to a vital part of an employer’s duty. Yet, it would be fair to say auto enrolment and workplace pensions continue to confuse many employers. This is not a surprise when you see the size of the guidance! This though is where us, at Alderley Payroll Services, can help!
Alongside payroll services, we provide comprehensive auto enrolment services which can be tailored to your specific requirements.
Workplace pension duties can be broken down into one off actions and recurring duties. Firstly, looking at the recurring duties, this is about assessing employees each pay period, enrolling eligible or opted in employees, and calculating pension duties. The contributions are then loaded into a qualifying workplace pension scheme. The good news is this is something we do free of charge as part of our payroll service.
When it comes to the one-off duties we always say to clients and prospective clients that we are happy to do as much or as little of these as you like. We appreciate that some clients want to keep costs down and therefore will complete the one-off duties themselves. This does not impact on us handling the assessment and contribution load up each pay period, this is still free of charge and part of the payroll process. The one-off duties that you need to complete are as follows:
One other thing to be mindful of is re-enrolment which happens once every three years. The link here will take you to a previous blog on this subject.
If you have any further questions about workplace pensions, or anything payroll related please feel free to get in touch!
From the 6th April 2022, the repayment thresholds for student and postgraduate loans will increase as follows:
Interest rates for plans 1 & 4 will stay at the current rate of 9% when above the thresholds.
HMRC have yet to announce if there will be any changes to the repayment thresholds and interest rates for plan 2 or postgraduate loans from the new tax year 22/23.
For further information regarding student loans and postgraduate loans please visit the HMRC website.
The Coronavirus Statutory Sick Pay Rebate Scheme has now been relaunched with updated guidance available on the HMRC website.
The scheme allows employers to claim back SSP paid to employees eligible for SSP due to COVID related absence. The employer must have already paid the employee the SSP and claims can only be made for employees who have been off work on or after the 21st December 22.
An employer can use the Coronavirus Statutory Sick Pay Rebate Scheme if the PAYE scheme was created and started on or before the 30th November 21. The employer also needs to have had fewer than 250 employees across all their PAYE schemes on 30th November 21.
At Alderley Payroll Services we will be able to make claims for all clients we have HMRC agent authorisation for. If we aren’t currently your agent, we can make this application free of charge.
Conservative MP Richard Holden, on the 5th Jan, tabled a motion in the House of Commons to extend auto-enrolment to 18-year-olds and workers who are low earners.
The MP from North West Durham said “Auto-enrolment has been one of the massive hidden triumphs of the last decade in the UK, but sadly millions of hard-working British people aren’t benefiting because they’re under 22 or simply not working enough hours”.
Currently to be eligible for auto enrolment the worker needs to be aged between 22-SPA, earning over £10,000 per year.
Think tank, Onward, published a report on the 5th Jan suggesting that over the working life of the current workforce the proposal could add £2.77trn in retirement savings.
For further information on workplace pensions and auto-enrolment we have several blogs on the subject.
At Alderley Payroll we provide outsourced payroll services throughout the UK to businesses directly, and also subcontracted through accountants and bookkeepers. Custom payroll reports are one of the many benefits we can offer at Alderley Payroll Services.
We frequently receive requests for a wide range of information outside the usual reports produced each pay period. Not only do we have great flexibility with the software we use, but there are also no fees for these custom reports. Whether you require a top-level report, or a breakdown between pay periods and employees we can do this.
The information can be provided in a wide range of file types, including PDF, excel or CSV, and all password protected to ensure we are complaint with GDPR guidelines.
When we work directly with a client, as opposed to working through an accountant or bookkeeper, authority can be provided to allow the clients accountant to contact us directly for reports. This is especially helpful when an accountant requires payroll information for the clients accounting year. Instead of the client or accountant pulling together summary reports each pay period, we can be provide one report with all the information included.
If you would like further information regarding our outsourced payroll services, workplace pensions, or anything else relating to PAYE please get in contact!
We have added live chat to our website! If you need an instant quote or simply have a question about our payroll services, you can now use the live chat function between Monday – Friday 9am-5pm. We are also available to answer any general payroll queries so don’t hesitate to click the icon in the bottom right hand corner!
As before you can still get in touch by completing our contact form or calling on 01625 912099.
The government has announced that from mid-January 2022 the SSP Rebate Scheme will be reintroduced. The rebate scheme allows employers to claim back up to 2 weeks SSP when the employee is off due to coronavirus. The scheme originally closed on the 30th September 2021, though you do have until 31st Dec 2021 to submit any claims.
We are waiting for further information to be released but we presume the scheme will work in the same way as it has done previously, being available for small and medium sized businesses with fewer than 250 employees.
Please get in touch with any of your payroll questions.
The government has now confirmed the SSP Rebate Scheme will be reinstated from the 21st December 21. Claims can be made from mid-January 22, allowing you to make retrospective claims.