Jul 2013
29
Real Time Information (RTI) - the UK experience so far
From April 2013, the UK has experienced a major change in the way employers report PAYE to HMRC. Employers now report their payroll information to HMRC in real time, on or before every payday. This is akin to a P35 being submitted weekly, fortnightly or monthly by UK employers .
Having such up to date information means that HMRC can issue accurate and timely instructions to employers thereby ensuring that an employee’s tax position at any time is correct i.e. there are less under or overpayments of tax. It will also help ensure the success of the new universal credit system whereby six working-age benefits will be merged into one.
There has been a number of teething problems with the new system, which is only to be expected given the scale of the change but various actions taken by HMRC prior to the live date have ensured that the transition has gone relatively smoothly. These actions included a pilot program, consultations with employer groups, consultations with software companies, various workshops and an overall general helpfulness on the part of the relevant HMRC staff.
It is understood that the Irish Revenue is a very interested spectator!
Bright Contracts – Employment contracts and handbooks
BrightPay – Payroll Software
Jul 2013
29
SEPA - an update
The latest version of Thesaurus Payroll Manager (2013.2.0 onwards) allows you to prepare SEPA compliant credit transfer files if you bank with AIB or DanskeBank.
From a payroll prospective, it is important to note that, at present, SEPA is really only beneficial to you if any of your employees wish to have their wages paid directly into a euro bank account in another EU state. Otherwise, the only benefit to you is being an early adopter and knowing that this is one less thing you will need to do next year.
If your bank requires a SEPA format credit transfer file for the payment of wages then you can use the SEPA feature within Thesaurus Payroll. This operates seamlessly, converting each employees bank details into BIC and IBAN formats for all domestic payments. In short, you need only obtain BIC and IBAN details for those employees who require payment into a euro bank account in another EU state.
Bright Contracts – Employment contracts and handbooks
BrightPay – Payroll Software
Jul 2013
29
2014 Budget date
The Minister for Finance, Michael Noonan, has confirmed that preparations have already commenced for Budget 2014. Delivery date of the Budget has been brought forward to Tuesday 15th October 2013.
Bright Contracts – Employment contracts and handbooks
BrightPay – Payroll Software
Jul 2013
29
Local Property Tax - now a part of the Irish taxation landscape
LPT deductions at source (i.e. from payroll) became effective from 1st July 2013. The LPT deduction is advised to the employer by Revenue only and should not be implemented or amended under any other circumstances (e.g. by employee request).
The “Acorn to Oak Communications Plc -v- An Taoiseach, An Tánaiste and 48 Others” case was heard in the High Court last week and the case was dismissed. As far as we are aware, this ends the last legal challenge to the new tax.
Revenue will advise employers to make this deduction by the inclusion of an LPT field on the employee’s tax credit certificate issued to the employer (P2C). The deduction is only made in the circumstance that the employee has elected with Revenue to have the tax deducted from their salary or if Revenue are imposing the deduction, therefore employers will only make the deduction from some employees if not all.
Employers should not deviate from Revenue instructions. All employee queries relating to any LPT deduction or amendment should be directed to Revenue.
The latest versions of Thesaurus Payroll Manager (2013.2.0 upwards) automatically update employee records to implement LPT deductions, where applicable, once the latest P2Cs have been imported. All employee statements of earnings; Payslips, email payslips, P45, P60, will reflect LPT deductions made by employers on the employees behalf.
It is important that employers import the latest P2C file available to them from their ROS account in order to update employee details for such amendments.
Bright Contracts – Employment contracts and handbooks
BrightPay – Payroll Software
Jul 2013
23
BrightPay supporting Barretstown
Congratulations to our BrightPay team members, Denise and Caroline, on their completion of the PowerFit spinathon in aid of Barretstown.
Thesaurus Software is a strong advocate of Barretstown who offer an invaluable service to society rebuilding the lives of seriously ill children and their families.
We at Thesaurus Software recognise the hard work of all charities and the current difficulties they face in meeting their challenges, to that end we offer all registered charities a free standard payroll software license and customer support on an ongoing basis. Click here for our terms and conditions.
Bright Contracts – Employment contracts and handbooks
BrightPay – Payroll Software
Jun 2013
4
Video Help
Click on any of the following links for video help on that subject:
Backing up
Bank transfer
Changing surname
Doing your P35
Dropbox
Emailing payslips
Entering Revenue details
Holidays
Illness benefit
Importing P2C from ROS
LPT
Mid year setup
P30 ROS
P45 holiday pay, general
P45(3) and P46
Pensions
Reversing older updates
ROS P45
SEPA
Upgrading software
USC cut offs
Apr 2013
13
What you as an employer need to know about LPT (Local Property Tax)
An employee may opt with Revenue for their LPT liability to be collected by deduction from their salary/wages.
Revenue will communicate to you how much you should deduct from employees in the P2C file (details of tax credits and cut off points) which will be sent to your ROS inbox in June 2013. The LPT field is a new field within the P2C file and Thesaurus Payroll will detect it automatically once imported into the software. Paper tax credit certificates will also contain this new LPT field and Thesaurus Payroll will have a new field for inputting the LPT amount manually.
LPT deductions commence for pay dates from 1st July 2013 and, in accordance with Revenue guidelines, Thesaurus Payroll will deduct the LPT amount evenly over the remainder of the 2013 year. Where, in any pay period, there is insufficient pay to enable deduction of LPT, the balance remaining will be spread evenly over the remaining pay periods.
The LPT deduction, the amount deducted to date and the balance of LPT still to be deducted will be shown on payslips.
The amount you pay to the Collector General by way of a P30 (monthly or quarterly) will include the LPT amount that you have collected. P45s and P60s will also include a new LPT field.
We will be releasing an upgrade in June to handle all of the above.
As with all other statutory deductions, you will be obliged to deduct LPT in accordance with the P2C instruction from Revenue. If an employee has an issue, they must contact Revenue directly. You, as employer, have no discretion in the matter! Revenue can pursue you as employer for any amounts you fail to deduct, charge interest on late payment and fine you for non-compliance.
Bright Contracts – Employment contracts and handbooks.
BrightPay – Payroll Software
Mar 2013
19
SEPA
No doubt you will have heard the adverts for SEPA which comes into being next year. SEPA basically enables electronic payments to be made within the Single Euro Payments Area for the same price as a local payment. It means that any of your employees who have non Irish bank accounts within the SEPA area can ask that their wages be paid to that account.
There are one or two things you should know about how Thesaurus Payroll Manager will handle SEPA. Although BICs and IBANs are required for the SEPA electronic file, you will not have to input these as Thesaurus Payroll will be able to convert existing branch codes and account numbers. Therefore you can continue to use local branch codes and account numbers unless the employee has a non Irish bank account.
There are slightly different SEPA file formats depending on your bank. The software will automatically know (from your own branch code) which bank you are paying from and prepare the appropriate file for that bank.
We expect to have SEPA functionality included in our mid year (LPT) upgrade.
Feb 2013
5
Employment Permits Bill
Legislation aimed at protecting undocumented migrant workers is being progressed as a priority by the Department of Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation.
The proposed legislation will address, amongst other matters, an important legal issue identified in a recent High Court decision. In August 2012, the High Court overturned a Rights Commissioner's award of over €91,000 in favour of a foreign national employed as a restaurant worker.
The Court found that the employee’s contract of employment was substantively illegal in the absence of the appropriate employment permit and that he was therefore not entitled to the award.
The proposed legislation will protect migrant workers whose employment in Ireland is unlawful by reason of not having a work permit. The Department recently confirmed that it is expected that the Bill will be published in the first quarter of this year.
Bright Contracts – Employment contracts and handbooks.
BrightPay – Payroll Software
Jan 2013
29
