HMRC’s employment status service can be used to help ascertain if a worker should be classified as employed or self-employed for tax purposes in both the private and public sector. The service provides HMRC’s view as to whether IR35 legi... Read More

The cost of a staff party or other annual entertainment is generally allowed as a deduction for tax purposes. If you meet the various criteria outlined below there is no requirement to report anything to HMRC or pay tax and National Insurance. T... Read More

Advisory fuel rates are intended to reflect actual average fuel costs and are updated quarterly. The rates can be used by employers who reimburse employees for business travel in their company cars or where employees are required to repay the cost of... Read More

An Employee Car Ownership Scheme (ECOS) is a set of arrangements whereby employees acquire cars from a specified, often single source and within a specified financing framework. The use of an ECOS can be seen as a halfway measure between providing a... Read More

An employee can obtain a benefit when provided with an employment-related cheap or interest-free loan. The benefit is the difference between the interest the employee pays, if any, and the commercial rate the employee would have to pay on a loan obta... Read More

If you are an employee and use your own money to buy things you need for your job, you can sometimes claim tax relief for the associated costs. It is usually only possible to claim tax relief for the cost of items used solely for your work. There is... Read More

The government’s recently published “Good Work Plan” included a commitment to establish a naming and shaming scheme for those employers who fail to pay employment tribunal awards. Immediately following publication of the Good Work Plan, the governmen... Read More

New legislation comes into force from 6 April 2019 which requires all employers to provide an itemised payslip to all workers, i.e. not just to employees, and to show hours on payslips where the pay varies by the amount of time worked. The governmen... Read More

Employees that are pregnant are eligible to take up to 26 weeks of statutory maternity leave (known as ordinary maternity leave) plus an additional 26 weeks (known as additional maternity leave). This means that an employee can take up to a full yea... Read More

When you employ someone to work in your home, it is your responsibility to ensure you meet the employee's rights and deduct the correct amount of tax from their salary. This can include employees such as a nanny, housekeeper, gardener or carer. The... Read More

HMRC is reminding employees that they may be able to claim a tax rebate if they have incurred certain expenses related to their employment. HMRC’s press release on the matter specifically identifies workers including nurses, hairdressers, constructi... Read More

In a written ministerial statement, the government has announced the proposed new rates for Statutory Maternity Pay (SMP), Statutory Adoption Pay (SAP), Statutory Paternity Pay (SPP), Statutory Shared Parental Pay (ShPP) and Statutory Sick Pay (SSP)... Read More