The government has just announced the national living wage (NLW) and national minimum wage (NMW) rates which will come into force from April 2021. What are they? The NLW will increase by 2.2% from £8.72 to £8.91 per hour. For the first time it will cover those aged 23 and 24. Here are the rates...

HMRC will be seeking to recover all wrongly claimed furlough payment grants. However, employers who have made innocent mistakes in their claims have been given time to rectify their errors. When must you act by? Lauren Herbert provides the very latest advice. Thousands of employers applied for furlough payment grants under the Coronavirus Job Retention...

HMRC recently published guidance on the definition and application of ‘exceptional circumstances’ to the COVID 19 pandemic when reviewing residence issues. This brought some hope, but since this there has been no mention of any softening of the approach to Seafarer’s Earnings Deduction claims. Seafarer’s are potentially significantly affected by COVID, as many of them...

Coronavirus Job Retention Bonus The government will introduce a one-off payment of £1,000 to UK employers for every furloughed employee who remains continuously employed through to the end of January 2021. Employees must earn above the Lower Earnings Limit (£520 per month) on average between the end of the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme (CJRS) and...

Flexible Furloughing From 1 July 2020 there will be increased flexibility in the CJRS. Employers can bring back employees on a part-time basis with the government continuing to pay 80% of wages for any of their normal hours they do not work. You can decide the hours and shift patterns that your employees work and...

HMRC updated their online guidance relating to this scheme yesterday (Friday 17 April) just in time for the first applications to be made this coming week. Claim for wage costs through the Job Retention Scheme Check if you could be covered by Job Retention Scheme The full guidance can be found at these two separate...

The government published guidance late last night on the operation of the Job Retention Scheme. We have had many enquiries in relation to this matter and hopefully the following information will answer the majority of these queries. Recap of the Basics Employers can claim 80% of furloughed worker’s usual wage costs up to £2,500 per...

Few businesses could ever have imagined, let alone made plans for, the potential impact of a massive epidemic such as the current coronavirus crisis. As accountants, we want to provide you with some practical steps that you can take. Keep in touch Keep in touch with your accountant. The sooner that they are made aware...

Are you and your staff handling tips correctly? If you operate a café or restaurant, your employees will receive tips from the majority of customers. But as a business owner, what do need to do regarding income tax on these tips? Head of our Payroll Team Joanne Gibson explains. The starting point is to confirm...

The government has announced a big increase in the national living wage and national minimum wage rates for 2020/21. What are they and when do they take effect? The government has announced the national living wage (NLW) and the four national minimum wage (NMW) rates which will take effect on 1st April 2020. You should...