The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) is set to introduce a new consumer duty to better protect users of financial services. The new rules will help tackle harmful practices such as providers of financial services presenting information in a way that exploits consumers’ behavioural biases; selling products or services that are not fit for purpose; or… Read more…

HMRC has published the latest edition of the Employer Bulletin. This guidance for employers, and their agents, includes articles on: reporting PAYE information in real time when payments are made early at Christmas preventing and correcting payroll errors Health and Social Care – National Insurance contribution increase UK-Swiss Convention on Social Security Coordination COVID-19 –… Read more…

More than 440,000 small firms could be forced out of business by the late payment crisis, according to the Federation of Small Businesses (FSB). An FSB study of more than 1,200 business owners found that close to one in three has seen late payment of invoices increase over the last three months, with a further… Read more…

Each company has their own rules, regulations and values, both contractual and non-contractual. Whilst an employee may learn the basics when signing their contract or going through induction, it can be difficult to fully understand the overall office culture. This is where a staff handbook can be invaluable. A staff handbook is a single reference… Read more…

HMRC saw a drop of almost £30 billion in tax revenues in the latest financial year because of the pandemic, according to its annual accounts. In its 2020/21 annual report, HMRC reported that it had collected £608.8 billion in tax revenues, which is down from £636.7 billion collected in 2019/20. HMRC said the drop was… Read more…

The UK government marked the inaugural Tax Administration and Maintenance (TAM) Day with the publication of 30 papers covering a wide range of tax issues. Chancellor Rishi Sunak made the commitment to have a TAM Day in the Autumn Budget. The aim was for a dedicated day for the administration and maintenance of the UK… Read more…

The standard three-day waiting time for Statutory Sick Pay (SSP) will be reinstated for coronavirus (COVID-19)-related claims from 25 March 2022, unless the government intervenes. Under standard rules in the UK, employers do not have to pay SSP to an employee until the fourth qualifying day in the Period of Incapacity for Work (PIW). The… Read more…

HMRC has warned taxpayers completing their 2020/21 tax returns to ‘be on their guard’ and stay vigilant in regard to tax-related scams. Nearly 800,000 tax scams were reported in the last year, HMRC revealed. It said that fraudsters use self assessment to attempt to steal money or personal information from taxpayers. In the last year,… Read more…

New rules to help protect pension savers from scammers have become law. Under the regulations, pension trustees and scheme managers will be given the power to stop suspicious transfers before cash gets into the hands of fraudsters. Fraudsters frequently offer ‘too good to be true’ incentives to pension savers, such as free pension reviews, early… Read more…

Optimism improved for firms across the services sector in the three months to November, according to the latest Service Sector Survey from the Confederation of British Industry (CBI). However, cost growth continued to pick up, increasing at the fastest pace since survey records began in 1998. Additionally, business volumes continued to grow at a strong… Read more…