Five things churches with staff need to think about before the new tax year

1. If you currently complete P11d’s for the expenses and benefits that you provide for your employees, did you know that you can put these benefits and expenses through the payroll?

Voluntary payrolling of benefits was introduced in April 2016. This is most beneficial where the amounts are known in advance and do not vary, as it allows tax to be collected on a real-time basis and in most cases removes the burden of having to complete P11Ds for employees. However, if expenses and benefits are variable, then this may not completely remove expense and benefit reporting requirements. If you wish to payroll benefits in the tax year 2018/19, you will need to register with HMRC now. 

2. Are you meeting the National Living Wage?

The new rates for the tax year 2018/19 have been published. From 6th April 2018, any employee aged 25 or over and not in the first year of an apprenticeship must be paid at least £7.83 per hour. Employees under 25 and apprentices must continue to be paid according to National Minimum Wage (https://www.gov.uk/national-minimum-wage-rates )

3. Do you have any employees living in Scotland?

Any employees living in Scotland with a tax code- prefix ‘S’ will have their tax calculated under new proposed tax rates for the tax year 2018/19, which differ from the UK. Details can be found (https://www.gov.scot/publications/scottish-income-tax-2018-2019/ )

4. Have you changed or are you thinking about changing your legal entity?

If you are thinking of setting up a CIO in place of a charitable trust, you will need to close down your old PAYE scheme and register for a new scheme with HMRC. On the date of the transfer, employees should be TUPE’d across to the new PAYE scheme. In order to find out how the change impacts any pension arrangements you have in place for your employees, you should also contact your workplace pension provider. If you choose to use Stewardship’s Charity Formation service for the transfer, we’ll support you in all these areas, making sure nothing is missed.

5. Ready for GDPR?

New data protection regulations came into force on 25th May 2018. You need to ensure that GDPR requirements are met and the rights of the data subject (employee) are protected. Go direct to the ICO (Information Commissioners Office) website for more guidance(https://ico.org.uk/for-organisations/guide-to-data-protection/guide-to-the-general-data-protection-regulation-gdpr/). The ICO also offers a helpline where small organisations can obtain advice