HMRC have published an Employer Bulletin for December 2024. We have summarised the key content for you, with links to our detailed guidance on the topics covered.
Employer National Insurance contributions (NICs) and Employment Allowance changes announced at Autumn Budget 2024
- The changes to NIC rates, thresholds and the Employment Allowance are covered as part of our Autumn Budget coverage.
- See Employers: Autumn Budget 2024.
Automatic enrolment duties for festive season workers
- Where employers take on seasonal short-term staff who have irregular hours or incomes paid through payroll, automatic enrolment responsibilities may still apply.
- Employers must work out who to put into a pension scheme by assessing staff individually, every time they are paid, taking into account what their ages are and how much they earn.
- Any staff aged 22 to state pension age earning over £192 a week or £833 a month, must be put into a pension scheme which the employer contributes towards.
Evidence required to claim PAYE employment expenses
- New evidence requirements for employment expenses were introduced from 14 October 2024 after HMRC identified an increasing risk of processing claims that are not eligible.
Electronic payment deadline falls on a weekend
- In December 2024 the electronic payment deadline falls on Sunday 22 December 2024.
- To ensure the payment is received on time, funds must be cleared into HMRC's account by 20 December 2024, unless the employer arranges a Faster Payment.
- There are Penalties for late payment.
Guidelines for Compliance: help with the Apprenticeship Levy and Employment Allowance connected entities
- New guidelines have been published that clarify the connected entities rules and help employers correctly report the Apprenticeship Levy and claim Employment Allowance.
The guidelines:
- Explain how the connected entities rules impact the Apprenticeship Levy and Employment Allowance.
- Highlight the common errors employers make.
- Give practical advice on how to identify connected entities.
- Provide help on the unique scenarios in the public body population.
- Set out how employers can correct any errors made
Support if your employees have paid too much tax: claim a tax refund
- From May 2024, employees who are due a PAYE refund need to take action in order to receive their repayment. HMRC no longer automatically issue cheques.
- Employees who have signed up to HMRC’s online services are advised to use the HMRC app. Selecting the ‘PAYE As You Earn (PAYE)’ section will show any repayment that can be claimed and HMRC will pay the refund straight into the employee’s bank account within 1 week of the claim.
- Employees who have not signed up to HMRC’s online services, can still claim a refund online by searching ‘P800 refund’ and entering their P800 reference number and National Insurance number.
Employers PAYE and Construction Industry Scheme repayments
- Improvements to the online claim form for repayments were covered in our Employer Bulletin: October 2024.
- HMRC has now published an improved version of the online repayment claim form for refunds of Construction Industry Scheme deductions. They will provide a further update regarding the new online claim form for PAYE repayments once published.
Confirming plans to mandate the reporting of benefits in kind through payroll software from April 2026
- These plans were covered in our Agent Update: November 2024.
2025-26 student and postgraduate loans thresholds and rates
New Student loan plan type and postgraduate loan thresholds and rates will apply from 6 April 2025:
- plan 1: £26,065
- plan 2: £28,470
- plan 4: £32,745
- postgraduate loan: £21,000
Deductions for:
- plan types 1, 2 and 4 remain at 9% for any earnings above the respective thresholds
- postgraduate loan remains at 6% for any earnings above the respective threshold
Official rate of interest from 6 April 2025
- The change to the Official Rate of Interest (ORI) used to calculate the taxable benefit values of employment-related loans and some employment-related living accommodation was covered in our Agent Update: November 2024.
Investment Zone employer National Insurance contributions relief guidance
- Employers with business premises situated in an Investment Zone special tax site can apply a zero rate of employers Class 1 National Insurance contributions on the earnings of eligible new employees who are expected to spend at least 60% of their working time in the special tax site.
- The zero rate will apply to the earnings of all eligible new employees up to £25,000 per year. The relief is available for 36 months per eligible employee.
- From 6 April 2025, employers who wish to claim the relief, will need to provide the workplace postcode for any eligible employees in the RTI Full Payment Submission.
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