In the final article in our short series of Reward and Employment Tax articles for the end of the 2020 year and heading towards the U.K. 21/22 tax year, we thought it would be useful to summarise some of the recent changes and actions to be taken.

It can be very isolating working from home, with no one to bounce ideas off, so it can be easy to miss new developments or remember to do some of the routine tasks. Some deadlines have been pushed out, and others not. Here’s a brief list as a reminder:

• The U.K. and E.U. have now agreed on a social security protocol. The deadline for countries to opt-out of the detached worker rules was 31 January 2021. The link to check which countries have done this can be found here. 
• Individuals can now apply for EHIC or GHIC cards here. Please be wary of using any other site, especially ones that seeks to charge a fee.
• HMRC has confirmed there will be no penalties for late filed U.K. self-assessment returns (due to have been filed by 31 January 2021 for the 19/20 tax year) so long as they are filed online by 28 February 2021. Guidance also covers providing estimated values if data is inaccessible at present. Payments were still due to having been made by 31 January 2021 so if you have not done this, look to do so as soon as possible to limit the amount of interest HMRC charges.
• If employees wish to claim working from home tax relief as a result of Covid or otherwise if they qualify they can do this for the last weeks of 19/20 tax year and can apply for 20/21 tax year.
• As good housekeeping in the run up to 21/22 tax year, employees should consider their annual and lifetime allowance positions on their pension savings, taking into account the higher earnings caps for the current and next tax year. Individuals should optimise this cap plus the use of any carry forward allowances they may be entitled to.
• If you are in the Construction Industry be mindful of the reverse charge changes for VAT coming in from 1 March 2021.
• Remember there have also been some changes to the Construction Industry Scheme (“CIS”) from 6 April 2021.
• If not already done so, medium and large sized organisations should consider their IR35 population and project plans, to be able to meet the 6 April 2021 go live date.
• For those in the construction sector, IR35 takes precedence over CIS, so the above represents a lot of change in a short space of time when resources may already be reduced.
• For those claiming Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme (CJRS) look out for the change in requirements for March and April 2021 claims. The average pay calculation has changed as a result of furlough being in existence for a year now, and the NIC rates and thresholds change from April as well.
• HMRC published the list of employers who claimed CJRS last week, are you on the list and have you had any additional questions from employees as a result?
• The budget is set for 3 March 2021 so whilst we know some of the income tax and National Insurance rates and allowances, watch out for any other announcements and prepare for 21/22 tax year uprating in payroll.

How can Alvarez and Marsal help?

A&M has hands on experience in all of the above.  We manage compliance programmes for a number of clients, so the above is just a short list of the things on our minds at the moment.  We are happy to share that list with you and to help you in any way you need. Look out for webinar invites on Budget commentary and other upcoming changes. If you have an immediate need please contact your usual A&M point of contact or Louise Jenkins, Tracey Norton, Anita Eunson, Shirley Ly, or Linda Cameron for more information.