Tag: 2015

Will you have a week 53 payroll year end in 2015?

Close up of payslip

Monthly payrolls never have a week 53 but weekly, fortnightly and for-weekly paid employees will have a week 53 if the process date is Sunday 5th April 2015. If it falls on any other day you don’t have a week 53 this year.

In the ‘Tax week number’ field of your FPS, put:

  • ‘53’ if you pay your employees weekly
  • ‘54’ if you pay them fortnightly
  • ‘56’ if you pay them every 4 weeks

If you make a mistake

If you find a mistake in your final FPS of the year, what you need to do depends on the type of mistake and when you find it.

Mistake When What to do
Wrong payments or deductions By 19 April Send an additional FPS with corrected year-to-date figures, and enter ‘0’ in ‘Pay in this period’
Wrong payments or deductions After 19 April Send an EYU showing the difference between the amounts on the wrong FPS and the correct year-to-date amounts – don’t give the year-to-date amounts
Wrong payment date By 5 April Send an additional FPS with the correct payment date – put ‘0’ in ‘Pay in this period’ and give the year-to-date figures

New Tax Break for Couples – Register Now

Pay Packet And Banknotes

A new tax break as launched this week from 6 April 2015, which will be eligible to more than 4 million married couples and 15,000 civil partnerships.

The Allowance means a spouse or civil partner who doesn’t pay tax – therefore is not earning at all or is earning below the basic rate threshold (£10,600) – can transfer up to £1,060 of their personal tax-free allowance to a spouse or civil partner – as long as the recipient of the transfer doesn’t pay more than the basic rate of income tax.

Applying online is straightforward. Couples can register their interest to receive the Allowance now at gov.uk/marriageallowance.

The maximum saving is 20% x £1,060 = £212

However, the partner giving up the allowance must not be earning and the partner getting the allowance must not be a higher rate tax payer.

steve@bicknells.net

Tax Free Childcare will the new rules be better or worse?

Mother and daughter with piggy bank

The Government wants to help working families and currently if you are an employee your employer can help with childcare and could for example buy childcare vouchers of up to £55 per week, the vouchers would be a tax free benefit to the employee. However, if you’re self employed you aren’t an employee so the rules don’t apply.

So recently there has been a consultation on what should be be done in the future.

The key proposals are:

  • New Scheme to go live in Autumn 2015
  • Working Families will open Voucher Accounts (self employed or employed)
  • As parents pay in the government tops up the account with 20p for every 80p paid in
  • Top up capped at £1,200
  • To be eligible all parent must work and not receive tax credits or be an additional rate tax payer

The chart below shows how it should work:

Childcare 2

 

steve@bicknells.net