Employee Tax | Recent Developments – National Insurance

HMRC announced in the
February 2024 issue of the Employer Bulletin that itis aligning
its approach to providing advance assurance on certain termination
payment enquiries.

Previously, HMRC’s guidance committed it to giving a binding
answer if an employer or agent made enquiries on certain
termination cases, including those involving the disability and
injury compensation exception, the foreign service exception, how
the £30,000 threshold exemption applies to payments and
non-cash provisions.

HMRC has announced that it will no longer give a binding answer
on these cases outside the normal non-statutory clearance
process.

This change means that such queries can only now be raised under
HMRC’s non-statutory clearance process, which
requires there to be a genuine point of uncertainty on the correct
treatment.

HMRC updates

HMRC has updated a number of its webpages on gov.uk to reflect
the 2024/25 tax year, including its Further guide to PAYE and National Insurance
contributions (CWG2). This guidance was updated on 6 April 2024
to state that employers no longer need to tell HMRC if they want to
pay a tax-free lump sum over £30,000 to an employee who
cannot work due to disability, injury or ill health, and to add new
rules about making advance salary payments to employees.

The content of this article is intended to provide a general
guide to the subject matter. Specialist advice should be sought
about your specific circumstances.