Hello,
With the world focusing on the developments of COVID-19 it is hard to concentrate on anything else but, for some variety and to think of something other than how self-isolating is going to work for you and your family, here is our payroll focused quarterly newsletter.
CHANGES TO NATIONAL MINIMUM WAGE RATES 2020/2021
Following the Budget in March the Government have confirmed that they are increasing the National Minimum Wage rates from the pay day after 6 April 2020 as follows:-
Aged 25 and above (National Living Wage Rate)
£8.72
Aged 21 to 24 inclusive
£8.20
Aged 18 to 21 inclusive
£6.45
Aged under 18 (but above compulsory school leaving age)
£4.55
Apprentices aged under 19
£4.15
Apprentices aged 19 and over, but in the first year of their apprenticeship
£4.15
The personal allowance tax threshold will remain the same at £12,500 per annum.
The National Insurance threshold for employees will increase to £9,500 per annum.
The National Insurance threshold for employers will increase to £8,788 per annum.
CHANGES TO THE EMPLOYMENT ALLOWANCE
The Employment Allowance (EA) will increase in 2020/2021 to £4,000 per annum. However they have also changed the criteria for being eligible to claim the employment allowance as follows:-
- EA can only be claimed if your total qualifying employers’ Class 1 NICs liability in the tax year before the year of claim was less than £100,000 (Payments made to off payroll workers do not count towards this amount).
- Connected Companies – the total qualifying liabilities incurred across the group of companies, in the tax year before the year of claim, will need to be added together. If the amount is more than £100,000 none of the connected companies are eligible to claim. If the total is less, then you need to decide which company can claim the EA.
- EA will be administered as de minimis state aid. This means that before making a claim you need to check that if receiving the full amount of EA for that year, added to any other de minimis state aid (if any) already received in the claim year and previous two tax years would not result in you exceeding the de minimis state aid threshold for your trade sector. If it does, you are not eligible to make a claim. If you think this applies to you please let us know and we can help you check this.
FORMS P60
The end of the final year is fast approaching and, as an employer, you should be producing P60s for all your employees whom will be employed as at 5 April 2020. The deadline for handing these to your employees is 31 May 2020. Employees who left your employment before 5 April 2020 will not receive a P60 from you.
If we can be of any assistance with regards to payroll, pensions, or any other matter then please feel free to get in touch.
Kind regards
The AMR Team
