1. What's New?

The March 2015 axis diplomat Payroll Legislation Update includes all of the required software changes to meet the latest requirements for RTI.

Please ensure you read the whole of the axis diplomat Payroll User Guide Supplement March 2015 prior to installing the update and running your year end procedures.

All employers were required to report PAYE in real time from the first payday on or after 6 April 2013.

Reporting PAYE in real time (RTI) means that you send HMRC data about tax, NICs and other deductions using the axis diplomat payroll software on or before each earnings payment is made rather than at the end of the tax year.

The information you send tells HMRC how much you should pay to them.

You report your payroll information by submitting RTI Full Payment Submissions (FPS) as part of each payroll run you make in your axis diplomat payroll software.

If you need to offset any statutory payments, for example Statutory Maternity Pay, you will also submit a single RTI Employer Payment Summary (EPS) from one of your data sets within 14 days of that particular tax month/quarter i.e. by 19th so that HMRC can reconcile your payment to the figures submitted.

RTI also means that you file year end information by submitting a final EPS for the year which contains all of the required end of year information for HMRC. Further information on PAYE final submission for the year and end of year tasks is available from HM Revenue and Customs at http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/payerti/end-of-year/tasks.htm

Futher information regarding the creation and submission of RTI information from your axis diplomat payroll software is provided in the F1 function help for the relevant functions. 

With effect from 6th April 2015, employers with employees under 21 years of age will no longer have to pay Class 1 secondary National Insurance contributions on earnings up to the Upper Secondary Threshold (UST) for those employees. There are new NI Category letters for those employees under 21 and these will be automatically updated as part of the year end process.

More detailed guidance for employers with detail on the new category letters and rates is available at http://www.gov.uk/government/publications/employer-national-insurance-contributions-for-under-21s/abolition-of-employer-national-insurance-contributions-for-under-21s-employer-guide 

The new Marriage Allowance allows the transfer of some of an individual's personal allowance to their partner. The March 2015 Payroll Legislation update includes support for these new tax codes.

With the introduction of Shared Parental Leave, Additional Paternity Leave and Pay will no longer be available for babies due after 5 April 2015.
 

From 5 April 2015 the government is changing the rights on adoption leave and pay:

•  The main adopter will be able to take paid time off for up to five adoption appointments. The secondary adopter will be entitled to take unpaid time off for up to two appointments.
• Adoption leave will become a "day one" right, so employees will no longer need to have 26 weeks' continuous employment to be eligible.
• Statutory Adoption Pay will change  - the first six weeks will be paid at 90% of the employee's normal earnings, bringing it in-line with maternity pay.
• Some surrogate parents will become eligible for adoption leave.
• Eligible employees' will be able to "opt" into the new Shared Parental Leave scheme.

Shared Parental Leave is a new right that will enable eligible mothers, fathers, partners and adopters to choose how to share time off work after their child is born or placed. This could mean that the mother or adopter shares some of the leave with her partner, perhaps returning to work for part of the time and then resuming leave at a later date.

The options to use the new Shared Parental Leave rights will apply for parents who meet the eligibility criteria, where a baby is due to be born on or after 5 April 2015, or for children who are placed for adoption on or after that date.

Key points

• Employed mothers will continue to be entitled to 52 weeks of Maternity Leave and 39 weeks of statutory maternity pay or maternity allowance.
• If they choose to do so, an eligible mother can end her maternity leave early and, with her partner or the child's father, opt for Shared Parental Leave instead of Maternity Leave. If they both meet the qualifying requirements, they will need to decide how they want to divide their Shared Parental Leave and Pay entitlement.
• Paid Paternity Leave of two weeks will continue to be available to fathers and a mother's or adopter's partner, however Additional Paternity Leave will be removed (Shared Parental Leave will replace it).
• Adopters will have the same rights as other parents to Shared Parental leave and pay.

Shared Parental Leave will enable eligible mothers, fathers, partners and adopters to choose how to share time off work after their child is born or placed for adoption. This could mean that the mother or adopter shares some of the leave with her partner, perhaps returning to work for part of the time and then resuming leave at a later date.

It is designed to give parents more flexibility in how to share the care of their child in the first year following birth or adoption. Parents will be able to share a pot of leave, and can decide to be off work at the same time and/or take it in turns to have periods of leave to look after the child.

Further information is available at http://www.gov.uk/shared-parental-leave-and-pay-employer-guide/entitlement