Workers are now saving more than ever thanks to auto enrolment

By James Nadal | 17th June 2014 | 14 min read

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.

Automatic enrolment has already has a positive impact on not only the number of employees saving into pension schemes but also the amount they are saving.  

The Scottish Widows Retirement Report how shown that 53% of workers are now saving towards retirement - an increase of 8% on last year.    

The average percent of earnings saved into pensions has also risen to 11.6% - well above even the long-term minimum requirement of 8%.

Ian Naismith, pensions expert at Scottish Widows, commented:

"It is heartening to see that finally people are starting to sit up and take notice of the importance of planning for the future – whether this be through proactively upping their contributions due to a more favourable economic climate, or starting to make plans for their retirement for the first time thanks to auto-enrolment."

This research shows the importance that employees are now placing on saving into pension schemes which means ensuring you have an automatic enrolment scheme in place sooner rather than later can be a critical difference in attracting employees to your business.

Preparing now can ensure you don’t miss out on your automatic enrolment opportunity and don’t lose employees to rival companies who are already offering attractive pension schemes to employees.

Speak to an IRIS advisor on 0344 815 5677  to see how you can start your automatic enrolment journey today.