Blog Article

Auto enrolment: “It doesn’t apply to me” and other common tales.

By Stephanie Wardle

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By Stephanie Wardle

Author

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Updated 11th July 2022 | 3 min read Published 26th June 2014

Automatic enrolment was introduced back in October 2012 and despite the awareness campaign over the last 18 months from The Pensions Regulator, HMRC and the government’s own pension provider NEST, some companies still seem to be avoiding the reality of these complex changes.

Here at IRIS, our team speaks to hundreds of SME’s every day and there are still so many companies who aren’t aware of how this new legislation will affect them.

Here are just two of the most frequent comments, we hear...

1. “It doesn’t apply to me”

There are companies out there who haven’t done their research regarding the Workplace Pension Reform. Every employer in the UK will be affected by auto enrolment and even if a company has no one in a pension scheme, they will still have to complete certain processes and tasks every pay period. As a business, you still need a plan on how your company will handle the new legislation. One of the best ways to do this, is to join a free IRIS auto enrolment webinar.

Visit the IRIS auto enrolment insight page today for more information

2. “My staging date isn’t for ages”

This financial year, over 30,000 businesses will reach their staging date, but in the coming years, over 400,000 companies will begin assessing their staff and enrolling them into pension schemes. The volume of businesses means that demand will far outweigh supply and many companies will be left with very little choice of what will be the best scheme and process for them to choose.

Preparing early is vital to avoid being caught up in the “capacity crunch” and will allow businesses to educate their payroll departments and staff introduce the new processes with ease and have complete compliance confidence.

Start preparing today by speaking to an IRIS automatic enrolment expert who can help you kick start your journey and conquer compliance confusion.

Speak to the team today

Whether you need answer about how your payroll system can handle assessments, or how you can publish communications, the IRIS team can help.

To learn more about the payroll and the auto enrolment solutions IRIS offer, call the team direct on 0843 357 1802 today.

If you provide any taxable benefits to employees then you must submit to HMRC a P11D form (or P9 for employees earning less than £8,500 per year) for each employee receiving benefits. You must also submit one additional form, P11D (b), to declare the overall amount of Class 1A National Insurance contributions (NICs) due on all the expenses and benefits you’ve provided.

Examples of taxable benefits include:

• Private medical insurance

• Company cars

• Gym membership

You must also provide a P11D form to each of your employees which details the benefits they have received over the year and tax due.

Time is of the essence!

The deadline for submissions is 6th July 2014 and payment of Class 1A NICs should reach HMRC by 22nd July. The HMRC will impose fines for late submissions – currently £100 per 50 employees for each month or part month that a return remains outstanding.

Submitting returns

Many companies ignore their P11Ds as they are unsure what to do and how to go about working out the tax that is due for each employee but with the fines mentioned above you could end up with a nasty surprise by not staying on top of this once a year task.

The fastest, easiest and most secure way to submit your returns is electronically. Quality of returns is extremely important to ensure they are not rejected by HMRC. Using a specially designed software such as IRIS P11D Organiser will ensure that the often complex calculations are performed correctly and that the returns contain accurate information so are accepted first time. Things get even easier after year one as benefits can be rolled forward and items inputted throughout the year as necessary (preventing the last minute rush!)

Click here for more information on IRIS P11D Organiser. To arrange a free online demonstration please call the IRIS team on 0344 815 5677.