Over three million workers will receive a pay boost after Chancellor Rachel Reeves confirmed the National Living Wage will increase from £11.44 to £12.21 an hour from April 2025. The 6.7% increase is worth £1,400 a year for an eligible full-time worker. The National Minimum Wage for 18 to 20-year-olds will also rise from £8.60… Read more…

Businesses have been banned from withholding tips or service charges from their staff under new rules that came into force on 1 October. All tips, whether in cash or by card, must now be shared between workers by law in Britain, with millions of workers such as those working for cafes, pubs, restaurants, taxi companies… Read more…

The government’s Make Work Pay Bill lacks a pro-growth element and will increase economic inactivity, the Federation of Small Businesses (FSB) has warned. The business group says that the legislation, particularly around day one dismissal rights, risks deterring small employers from taking a chance on someone who has had a significant period out of the… Read more…

The new Growth and Skills Levy must end the ‘cycle of policy failure’ in addressing Britain’s chronic skills shortages, according to the Resolution Foundation. The think tank says the government must get its design and implementation right if it’s to boost the number of apprenticeships after years of decline and ensure that Levy funds go… Read more…

More than 10,000 payments worth £12.5 million have been made through a new digital service to boost people’s state pension, HMRC has revealed. People have until 5 April 2025 to maximise their state pension by making voluntary National Insurance contributions (NICs) to fill any gaps in their NICs record between 6 April 2006 and 5… Read more…

The Chancellor should use her Autumn Budget to make off-payroll working rules ‘fairer and more effective’, according to the Association of Independent Professionals and the Self-Employed (IPSE). IPSE says that the rules, commonly known as IR35, are still causing significant disruption for businesses and public bodies needing to recruit freelancers and contractors for their operations.… Read more…

The end of business rates relief will sting hospitality with a £928 million bill in April unless the government acts in the Budget, warns UKHospitality. Hospitality and leisure businesses face their bills quadrupling if business rates relief ends as planned on 31 March, it adds. The trade body is calling for the Chancellor to introduce… Read more…

The Resolution Foundation has suggested that reforms to inheritance tax (IHT), capital gains tax (CGT) and national insurance (NI) could raise more than £20 billion a year. The Foundation said that the reforms could also pass a ‘triple tax test’ of improving tax efficiency, making sure that tax rises fall on those with the broadest… Read more…

The government has announced an overhaul of the UK’s apprenticeship system. A new growth and skills levy which will replace the existing apprenticeship levy and include new foundation apprenticeships. The government says these new apprenticeships will give young people a route in to careers in critical sectors, enabling them to earn a wage whilst developing… Read more…

HMRC has been urged to defuse a tax bombshell threatening online traders, by the Low Incomes Tax Reform Group (LITRG). The LITRG, which is part of the Chartered Institute of Taxation (CIOT), says the tax authority must take action in order to make sellers aware of the fact that they may need to file a… Read more…