Payroll is no longer just a payment made to employees that needs tax and National Insurance deducting. With the frequent updates and employment legislation changing, we thought we would highlight some of the day to day processes that come with payroll:
Real Time Information (RTI) filing:
RTI to HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) should be filed every time you make a payment to your employees, this must be processed by the pay date to avoid penalties.
If you are making a correction to an employees pay, you must send an amended payment submission to make sure your PAYE liability matches the submission sent.
New Starters:
HMRC revised the new starter checklist for this tax year 2019/20 to include a new section for the Postgraduate Loan. All new employees should complete the form and ensure they select the correct statement. This is to make sure they are on the correct tax code to avoid under or over payments or Tax, and ensure they complete the student loan section on Page 2. You should never change tax codes or stop student loan notices unless you have notification from HMRC. If an employee thinks they are being taxed incorrectly they should contact HMRC to discuss.
Payslips:
It is a legal requirement to provide all employees with a payslip, failing to do this means you are failing to comply with one of the most basic requirements as an employer.
PAYE Liability:
It is important to make your PAYE payments on time to HMRC to avoid late penalty charges and interest charges. You should also ensure you are paying your payment in the correct period to avoid misallocation and under the correct PAYE accounts office reference number.
Employment Allowance:
If you are claiming employment allowance make sure you have advised HMRC by submitting the correct payment submission, a lot of late payment / underpayment notices are due to employment allowance being deducted from the liability, but HMRC not having a record of this.
Auto Enrolment and Re-Enrolment
Most companies now have their auto enrolment schemes up and running so you need to make sure you have the correct dates in for your re-enrolment. Re-enrolment occurs every three years from your staging date. The pension regulator will also send out reminders in addition to this, so you must ensure your re-enrolment is processed in time to avoid penalties. Where employees are re-enrolled, you must make sure the correct pension correspondence is sent out in a timely manner.
At David Allen we will always stay on top of the latest legislation and keep you advised of best practice, leaving you to get on with running your business.
For peace of mind for all your payroll and employment law requirements contact a member of our team on 01228 711888.