Business News - 7 February 2022
A round up of the latest business news for our clients. Please contact us if you want to talk about how these updates affect your business. We are here to support you.
This update includes:
Government support for rising energy bills
Second State Pension Age Review launches
Statutory Pay Rates from April 2022
Managing home workers' health and safety
Chancellor’s Spring 2022 statement and potential for mini budget
New VAT penalty regime delayed to January 2023
Source for stories is 2020 Innovation Training, unless stated otherwise.
Government support for rising energy bills (Source: Croner-I)
The Chancellor has set out a £9.1bn plan to support individuals with rising energy costs, which includes a discount on council tax and a loan to cover some of the increase.
Millions of households will receive £350 of government support to help protect them from rising energy costs, Chancellor Rishi Sunak told MPs, but more than half the money is actually a loan.
All domestic electricity customers will get £200 off their energy bills from October, with 80% of households receiving a £150 council tax rebate on properties from Band A to Band D from April. This one-off payment will benefit around 80 per cent of all homes in England and the council tax element will not have to be repaid.
The £200 discount will only be a temporary measure and bill payers will have to pay back the money over five years, in a deduction from bills. At present there appears to be no way to opt out of the scheme either.
See: https://www.gov.uk/government/news/millions-to-receive-350-boost-to-help-with-rising-energy-costs.
Second State Pension Age Review launches
The review will consider whether the rules around pensionable age are appropriate, based on the latest life expectancy data and other evidence.
The Pensions Act 2014 requires government to regularly review State Pension age, and in accordance with law, this latest Review must be published by 7 May 2023.
State Pension age is currently 66 and two further increases are currently set out in legislation: a gradual rise to 67 for those born on or after April 1960; and a gradual rise to 68 between 2044 and 2046 for those born on or after April 1977. The first Review of State Pension age was undertaken in 2017 and concluded that the next Review should consider whether the increase to age 68 should be brought forward to 2037-39 before tabling any changes to legislation.
As the number of people over State Pension age increases, due to a growing population and people on average living longer, the government needs to make sure that decisions on how to manage its costs are robust, fair and transparent for taxpayers now and in the future.
See: Second State Pension Age Review launches - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)
Statutory Pay Rates from April 2022
The government has published the proposed statutory rates for maternity pay, paternity pay, shared parental pay, adoption pay, parental bereavement pay and sick pay from April 2022.
The rates normally increase each April in line with the consumer price index (CPI) and this normally occurs on the first Sunday in April, which is 3 April 2022.
See: Benefit and pension rates 2022 to 2023 (publishing.service.gov.uk)
Managing home workers' health and safety
The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) home working guidance is for anyone who employs home workers, including those who split their time between their workplace and home (sometimes called hybrid working).
The guidance has been redesigned and expanded to provide more detail on straightforward actions to manage home workers’ health and safety.
This includes the risks of working with display screen equipment (DSE) at home as well as stress and poor mental health.
There is also advice for home workers themselves, as well as a video and practical tips on good posture when working with DSE.
Employers have the same health and safety responsibilities for people working at home as for any other worker.
See: Managing home workers' health and safety - Overview - HSE
Chancellor’s Spring 2022 statement and potential for mini budget
On the 23 December 2021 the Chancellor of the Exchequer, Rishi Sunak, commissioned the Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) to produce an economic and fiscal forecast for Wednesday 23 March 2022.
The main Budget is scheduled for Autumn each year, but it is anticipated that the Chancellor will take the opportunity to make a number of tax announcements.
See: Spring 2022 forecast statement - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)
New VAT penalty regime delayed to January 2023
A new, and arguably, fairer system for determining penalties for late returns and late payment of VAT has been delayed by a year and will now commence in January 2023. The same system will also apply to returns under Making Tax Digital (MTD) for income tax and those penalties will now start in April 2024.
Under the new regime taxpayers will accumulate points for late submissions and only after reaching a certain threshold will an automatic penalty be imposed. The threshold will depend on how regularly the taxpayer is required to submit a return.
See: Penalties for late submission - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)
Get in touch if you have any questions on how the updates above could impact you, we’re always happy to help.
