This is a moan, but for the last few weeks, I have been up to my ears in RTI prep and could of screamed when I got home this evening and saw the latest announcement from HMRC, to top it off, I had my 10 mins this morning at my local BNI on this very topic feel a right idiot now.
I even spoke to Sage yesterday on a payroll issue and they did not mention it to me.
To be fair - how many employers does it actually affect? Not many employers will pay employees weekly and run the payroll monthly. If they are weekly paid then they'll likely be running payroll weekly. So there's no real change to RTI scheme anyway. And as this concession only lasts 6 months is it even worth postponing the inevitable.
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Never buy black socks from a normal shop. They shaft you every time.
You're right. At the moment you have to list employees hours by bands - how many years before actual hours and pay have to be declared (and National Minimum Wage checked up on).
They were at one point wanting the actual responsibility for paying employees (so they can get the deductions directly). I wonder if they'll re-think that one - although the fear that will go through the nation may put them off. Imagine HMRC responsible for paying your wages?
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Never buy black socks from a normal shop. They shaft you every time.
We're now receiving calls from people who run weekly payrolls and think that the announcement means that they can get away with filing monthly. "When are you going to alter your software to fit this announcement?"
The misunderstanding is entirely predictable. Even I read the first announcement as meaning that small weekly payrolls could be filed monthly (and almost fell off my chair in horror and shock at the size of the implied last-minute change to RTI)
The actual concession (rather than what a lot of people are reading it as) applies to only a tiny number of businesses.
-- Edited by Tom McClelland on Thursday 21st of March 2013 09:27:11 AM
The taxpayers Charter says that HMRC's "vision" is the system be simple and even-handed.
There is inherently greater onus to get things right, and more often, for those paying weekly. For the smallest of businesses, the payroll office is often far removed from the point where money is handed over and so more opportunity for errors.
My biggest objection though is to the assumption that if you pay weekly, there is any need to run the payroll weekly. I think HMRC are slowly recognising this fact. In fact, no-one would sit there if it was not necessary, except to comply with RTI. For them it is a brand new and additional burden. Just because there aren't many of them doesn't mean the tax system should be unfair.
There has to be permanent exemption from filing 'on or before' for any business which doesn't pay by Bacs or similar.
This RTI will be a hoot. I phoned HMRC to ask them how I am supposed to file RTI if I take, say a month off? I don't envisage that I will take month long holidays anytime soon, but well, you never know. Some accountants do take long breaks after the tax year end, so entirely plausable I may as well at some stage. They said "just file estimates and fix it when you get back". Wonderful.
