Alan Gregory
1 minute length
Posted: 22nd April 2022

IRIS PAYE Master April 2022 Product Update

April 2022 Update

Welcome to your software update for April 2022/2023. This update of the software includes some new features and enhancements. These notes provide information on all the improvements.

We are constantly striving to enhance the functionality IRIS PAYE Master delivers to its users. This product update provides information on new features, enhancements and fixes delivered in April 2022 and the April 2022 patches.

Complete release notes are available in  Product Release Notes PAYE Master

April 2022 Release Version 22.10

Student Loan Thresholds

We have updated the annual thresholds in line with legislation for 2022/2023.

  • Plan Type 1 increased from £19,895 to £20,195
  • Plan Type 2 remains at £27,295
  • Plan Type 4 increased from £25,000 to £25,375
  • Postgraduate Student Loans remains at £21,000

Tax, NI, SSP, SMP, SAP, SPP & ShPP

We have updated the rates for tax, NI, and statutory payments for the tax year 2022/2023.

AE Parameters

We have updated the AE Parameters, in line with legislation, for 2022/2023.

National Insurance Changes

NI Holidays for Veterans Employer’s NIC Relief

From April 2021, HMRC announced that there would be a reduction in Employer National Insurance contributions for veterans for twelve consecutive months from the first day of their first civilian employment after leaving the regular armed forces. HMRC has introduced an NI category letter V and the Veteran’s Upper Secondary Threshold (VUST) to cater for the new relief.

If claiming for this relief from April 2021 to March 2022, this needs to be claimed retrospectively from April 2022 onwards. HMRC requires you to pay the Employer National Insurance contributions for veterans for this period in the usual manner.

From April 2022 onwards, the relief can be processed using the software and reported to HMRC via RTI.

Freeports Employer’s NIC Relief

From April 2022, HMRC announced that there would be a reduction in Employer National Insurance contributions for employees working in freeports in their first three years of employment. HMRC has introduced NI category letters F, I, S, and L and the Freeport Upper Secondary Threshold (FUST) to cater for the new relief.

Following these changes in legislation, we have made the following software amendments:

  • Include new NI letters:
    • V – standard category for Veterans
    • F – standard category for employees working in a Freeport
    • I – married women or widows entitled to pay reduced NI working in a Freeport
    • S – employees over state pension age working in a Freeport
    • L – employees entitled to defer paying full NI rate working in a Freeport
  • Add new earnings thresholds for Veteran’s Upper Secondary Threshold (VUST) and Freeport Upper Secondary Threshold (FUST)
  • Add new Date of Veteran’s First Civilian Employment date field
  • Add Working in a Freeport tick box

NI Rates

We have updated the Govt | NI Rates screen to include the new NI letters V, F, I, S, and L along with the parameters for Veteran’s Upper Secondary Threshold (VUST) and Freeport Upper Secondary Threshold (FUST).

Employee Details

We have added the following NI letters to the Employee Details | N.I. Details tab:

  • V Veteran
  • F Freeport Normal
  • I Freeport Married Women/Widows
  • S Freeport Pensioner
  • L Freeport Deferral

We have added a new Date of Veteran’s First Civilian Employment date field and Working in a Freeport tick box to the Employee Details | N.I. Details tab.

The Date of Veteran’s First Civilian Employment date field will only be enabled when the employee’s NI letter is V Veteran.

The Working in a Freeport tick box will automatically be ticked when the employee’s NI letter is F, I, S, or L.

Reports

We have updated reports to cater for the new NI letters V, F, I, S, and L, along with the parameters for VUST and FUST.

RTI Validation

RTI submissions are updated to include the new NI letters V, F, I, S, and L.

Health and Social Care Levy

On 7th September 2021, the Government announced a new 1.25% Health and Social Care Levy to fund investment in the NHS and social care. For the 2022/2023 tax year, the new levy; is added to National Insurance contributions for working-age employees, self-employed people, and employers. HMRC recommends that you include the following message on your employee’s payslips, where possible:

  • 25% uplift in NICs funds NHS, health & social care

To add a message to your employees’ payslips, after selecting the payslip report to print, select Output – Printer on the Print Payslips screen, choose Yes on the ‘Would you like to include a narrative on the payslip?’ message. Enter your message in the displayed Narrative field.

The payslip message is only required for the 2022/2023 tax year. From April 2023, the Health and Social Levy will be separate from National Insurance contributions.

Attachment of Earnings – Council Tax (Wales)

Attachment of Earnings Order

From the tax year 2022/2023, a new Council Tax Attachment of Earnings Order (AEO); is introduced in Wales. The thresholds are higher than the existing Council Tax Attachment of Earnings Orders and apply to Wales only.

The Welsh Government introduced the new Council Tax Attachment of Earnings Order (AEO) to maintain fairness in the system and reflect changes to the cost of living.

To cater for the new Attachment of Earnings Order (AEO), we have added a new Council Tax (Wales) option to the Attachment of Earnings – Employee Details | Type list.

Reports

We have updated selected reports to cater for the new Council Tax (Wales) Attachment of Earnings.

Real Time Information (RTI)

FPS Changes for 2022/2023

The FPS schema has been updated for the tax year 2022/2023 in line with government legislation.

EPS Changes for 2022/2023

We have updated the EPS schema for submissions relating to the tax year 2022/2023.

Earlier Year FPS Changes for 2021/2022

We have updated the Earlier Year FPS schema for submissions relating to the tax year 2021/2022 and submissions will now accept NI letter V.

The Earlier Year FPS can be submitted for Veterans employed in the 2021/2022 tax year, which will allow you to claim a refund of the Employer’s NI paid from HMRC.

To submit an Earlier Year FPS for 2021/2022 for a Veteran

  1. While accessing the company data for the tax year 2021/2022, go to RTI Online Services | Send Earlier Year FPS | Earlier Year FPS – Select Employee
  2. Click Next
  3. An Earlier Year FPS – Data Entry screen will open, enter and amend the NI Details fields and any other data fields required for inclusion in the Earlier Year FPS
  4. From the Earlier Year FPS – Data Entry screen, select the Multiple NICs button, and the Earlier Year FPS – Multiple NI Rates screen will display, make the necessary amendments to the fields if required
  5. Click Print if you require a hard copy of the information
  6. Then select Next
  7. The Earlier Year FPS Confirmation Screen allows you to see your Earlier Year FPS before submitting it to HMRC. Note: The National Insurance section will show up to four sets of data; if only one NI rate has been used in the year, only one set of data will display
  8. Again, click Print if you require a hard copy of the data
  9. Choose Send to submit to HMRC

Other Improvements

P60s

We have updated the P60s for year-end 2021/2022.

April 2021 Patch Release Version 22.11

Employment Allowance

We have increased Employment Allowance from £4000 to £5000 for the 2022/2023 tax year.

Please Note you must install this update prior to completing tax month 1 to ensure the correct Employment Allowance value is used.