Frequently Asked Questions
What are the current basic tax codes?
What are current National Insurance Rates?
What do I pay for Statutory Sick Pay (SSP)?
What is the Statutory Maternity Pay (SMP) entitlement?
Is evidence required for Statutory Adoption Pay (SAP) entitlement?
What are the Statutory Paternity & Adoption Pay (SPP) rates?
Are there other family friendly rights?
What is the National Minimum Wage and holiday entitlement?
What are the rules for payment of tax and NI to the Revenue?
Is there a Government Payroll website I can visit?
The PAYE thresholds (the level of earnings at which tax becomes payable) are:
• £125.00 weekly
• £549.00 monthly
The tax rates are:
• basic rate - 20 per cent up to £37,400
• higher rate - 40 per cent over £37,401
Tax codes starting with a K have a regulatory limit of 50 per cent.
The regulatory limit is specified as a percentage of pay and so on, and restricts the amount of tax to be deducted from the pay in the period. Where, for example, pay in the period is very low and the normal operation of the K code would give rise to a very high tax liability, possibly even exceeding the pay and so on in the period, the overriding regulatory limit will apply.
The emergency tax code is 747L.
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The following amounts apply for the 2011-2012 tax year (applicable from 6th April 2011) for employed persons:
• Earners above £139 a week (the 'earnings threshold') and up to £817 per week (£3540 monthly) pay 12 per cent of this amount as 'Class 1' NICs
• They also pay one per cent of earnings above £817 a week as Class 1 NICs
• They will pay a lower amount as an employee if they are a member of the employer's contracted out pension scheme
• Employers NI is set at 13.8%
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The weekly rate of SSP is £81.60 for employees with average weekly earnings of £95 or more (for a maximum of 28 weeks)
The SSP daily rate is the weekly rate of SSP divided by the number of qualifying days in the week and then multiplied by the number of qualifying days of incapacity in the week, rounded up to the nearest penny. For SSP purposes, weeks begin on Sunday and end on Saturday.
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Women expecting a baby on or after 6 April 2011 who satisfy the qualifying conditions are entitled to be paid for 39 weeks; 6 weeks @ 90% of pay followed by 33 weeks at the new rate of £128.73 per week, or 90% of pay if lower.
An employee can claim a further 13 weeks maternity leave. There is no obligation to pay for this period.
If a SMP period crosses the tax year, the payment will be made at the 2010/2011 level.
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Employees who are adopting a child and are notified that they have been matched with a child or received official notification that they are eligible to adopt a child from abroad on or after 6 April 2011 who satisfy the qualifying conditions are entitled to a maximum of 39 weeks SAP at the rate of £128.73 per week. This will be recovered @ 92% against NI. (Note: small employers can claim103%).
The ‘matching certificate’ from the adoption agency must be provided by the employee.
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Entitlement is one or two consecutive weeks - not odd days.
The weekly rate is £128.73.
Employers can claim back 92% of pay against NI. (Note: Small employers can recover £103%)
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Parents of young disabled children can request flexible working hours.
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Main rate - for employees aged 22 years and over is £5.93 per hour.
Development rate - for employees aged 18-21 and trainees is £4.92 per hour.
Young workers rate - for employees aged 16 or 17 is £3.64 per hour.
With effect from October 2011 these rates will change to £6.08, £4.98 and £3.68 respectively.
Holiday entitlement is 5.60 weeks per year. This can include Bank Holidays.
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Instructions from the Revenue state that the payment must be cleared into their bank by the 19th - not just received. Fines are not mentioned.
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Yes – please follow this link:
http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/paye/index.htm
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BASICS