The Chancellor has abandoned plans to increase self employed Class 4 National Insurance rates announced last week.

The Chancellor Philip Hammond presented the last Spring Budget on Wednesday 8 March 2017

What did he say? More importantly what does it mean for you? See for yourself in our Budget 2017 Summary

Automatic Enrolment began back in October 2012, and was introduced so all employers, even if they have only one member of staff, had to offer a workplace pension to employees.

​Each employer would have received correspondence from The Pensions Regulator containing their Staging Date, being the date by which the employer must have an Automatic Enrolment compliant scheme in place and must have ‘assessed’ its workforce.  This started with larger employers but in 2017, smaller businesses are having to take action.  

The employer has a duty in respect of their employees during the Automatic Enrolment process, and need to make sure that the employees understand about the Workplace Pension - Will they be enrolled or not?  How much will they and their employer be paying into it?

Moving into 2017, the Department for Work and Pensions will be conducting their review of how the Automatic Enrolment process has gone so far, requesting feedback on the overall process from current employers and employees, discussing the issues around contribution rates and thresholds, and considering how to widen the Workplace Pension scope.

Over 7 million people have been automatically enrolled into workplace pensions since the scheme was introduced in 2012 and the Government hopes that by 2018 this figure will surpass 10 million.

So what can Employers do?

Employers need to comply with their Automatic Enrolment duties by checking what their staging date is with The Pensions Regulator, and ensuring a compliant pension scheme is setup by this date and ensuring they have informed their employees.

If employers do not take appropriate action then The Pensions Regulator will issue penalties and take legal action against businesses.  Therefore it is strongly advised that employers prepare for their Automatic Enrolment duties in advance of their staging date to avoid compliance notices being issued and making sure employees are not missing out on contributions that they are legally entitled too.

If you require assistance with your Automatic Enrolment duties then please contact us.

In the latest Employer Bulletin HMRC advise those providing services to a public sector client through their own limited company to ensure they are ready for the new rules which take effect from 6 April 2017.
The new rules for off payroll working, commonly referred to as IR35 or the Intermediaries legislation, take effect from 6 April 2017.

Hundreds of thousands of savers have cashed in £9.2 billion from their pension pots since pension freedoms were introduced in April 2015.
In April 2015, the government introduced significant pension reforms giving people the ability to access their pensions savings how and when they want. Over 1.5 million payments have been made using pension freedoms, with 162,000 people accessing £1.56 billion flexibly from their pension pots over the last three months, according to HMRC figures.

With two Budgets in 2017, and the Spring Budget scheduled for Wednesday 8 March 2017, the Confederation of British Industry (CBI) have written to the Chancellor Philip Hammond outlining what they would like to see in the Budget proposals.
The CBI’s letter calls for the government to ‘back businesses’ growth ambitions’ to help build prosperity across the UK, and to work alongside firms to ‘prioritise stability’ during periods of economic uncertainty.

The CBI has also urged the government to tackle the UK’s ‘outdated’ business rates regime and limit its ‘growing burden’ on businesses.  Elsewhere, the Federation of Small Businesses (FSB) has advocated for a ‘pro-business Budget’ that supports self-employed individuals, urging the government to help more people start up in business.

We will keep you informed of pertinent Budget announcements.
Internet links: CBI news FSB news