Salary Sacrifice Changes: what do businesses need to do?

By Sam Thomas | 9th December 2016 | 14 min read

Changes to salary sacrifice as benefits-in-kind are coming from April 2017, but what actions do employees need to take? This blog helps explain.

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If you provide benefits to your employees in exchange for salary sacrifice or have a flexible benefits package within your business where your employees can choose a benefit or cash, such as gym memberships or mobile phones, or where you provide benefits but offer your employee a cash alternative then you’ll need to know about these upcoming changes.

What Do I Need to Do?

If any of the above applies to you then you’ll need to familiarise yourself with the new rules.

You don’t need to do anything if your employees are sacrificing salary only for pensions, pensions advice, childcare vouchers, workplace nurseries, directly employer contracted childcare, cycle to work or cars with emissions of or under 75 g CO2 / km.

When Do Changes Come Into Effect?

The new rules on salary sacrifice begin on April 6th 2017.

What Do I Need to Do Within My Payroll and HR Software?

In terms of your IRIS payroll software, it will already be capable of handling salary sacrifice payments under the ‘Payments & Deductions’ tab – you’ll just need to re-calculate the figures your employees are paying and re-enter it into your software. From here on, your payroll software will handle all of the calculations each payroll run.

What’s Next?

We’d recommend getting a head-start on payroll year-end as soon as possible. Handily, IRIS have just the thing to help your business prepare for April – the IRIS Payroll Year-end & HR Pack.

The pack has been designed to help ensure you have a smooth year end and are able to comply with the latest payroll and HR legislation. The on-demand training video will show you how to complete the year end process in your IRIS payroll software and avoid potential HMRC fines. It also covers new 2017/2018 legislation changes, including the new Apprenticeship Levy, Payrolling Benefits-in-Kind and the end of the Transitional Period. The pack also includes tips from our HR legislation expert, Marie Walsh, IRIS discount vouchers and access to free on-demand training webinars.

Learn more about the IRIS Payroll Year-end & HR Pack, as well as all of the information you need for April 2017, by visiting our dedicated Payroll Year-end insight page for help and advice today.

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