Legal/Finance
Business advice from Tina Sargent, of Griffins
ASK TINA - business advice from Tina Sargent, of Griffins.
THIS is my first year of trading and I have been told that I need to prepare and file P11Ds for my employees by July 6. Could you please give me some guidelines on the information I should be collating for this. Steve
Dear Steve
As an employer you are required to complete a P11D in respect of each employee earning £8,500 or more (including benefits) and all directors. Form P9D is required to record benefits by other employees, so comprehensive records of benefits and expenses should be kept.
Remuneration by way of benefits is often attractive to employees, especially if they are paying the higher rate of income tax, because the benefit may either be tax free or subject to less tax,
You, as an employer, should be aware that certain employee benefits may be non-taxable if they meet all the qualifying conditions for that exemption. These include:
- retirement benefits paid into an employee's pension scheme
- access to pensions advice and information which is available to all staff - up to a limit of £150 per employee per year
- free or subsidised meals on a reasonable scale which are available on your premises or in a canteen to all staff
- drinks and light refreshments at work
- parking provided at or near the workplace
- medical insurance for individual employees or directors (including cover for family members) or as a group
policy.
- life insurance premiums for an individual’s policy
- childcare facilities that you
provide for your employees on your own or together with others, or childcare vouchers, up to a value of £55 a week – conditions apply
- in-house sports facilities or gym membership
- eye tests and corrective glasses for VDU use
- removal and relocation expenses – up to a certain limit
- one mobile phone for private use per employee, or non-cash vouchers for one mobile phone for private use (multiple phones provided prior to April 62006 are still tax-exempt).
There is no longer an exemption for computers loaned to employees, unless the equipment is provided solely for business purposes and private use is not significant.
For further information and guidelines on common non-taxable benefits, the provision of a car or van and the payment of fuel and P11D forms I would suggest you check these websites www.businesslink.gov.uk, or http://www.hmrc.gov.uk.
I am reviewing our company’s health and safety and would appreciate some guidelines on the main areas to look at. Jane
Dear Jane
An employer is responsible for the health and safety of everyone affected by his business and its activities. The employees should be given the information, instruction, training and supervision necessary for their health and safety and also have a duty to look after their own and co-workers’ health and safety.
In particular, as an employer you must:
- Assess the risks to employees health and safety;
- Make arrangements for implementing the health and safety measure identified as being necessary by the assessment;
- If there are five or more employees, record the significant findings of the risk assessment and the arrangement for health and safety measures;
- If there are five or more employees, draw up a health and safety policy statement, including the health and safety organisation and arrangements in use;
- Set up emergency procedures e.g. in the event of a fire;
- Provide adequate first-aid facilities;
- Make sure that the workplace satisfies health, safety and welfare requirements e.g. for ventilation, lighting;
- Make sure that work equipment is suitable for its intended use, so far as health and safety is concerned, and properly maintained and used;
- Prevent or control exposure to hazardous substances;
- Take precautions against danger from flammable or explosive hazards, electrical equipment, noise and radiation;
- Avoid hazardous manual handling operations, or if unavoidable reduce the risk of injury;
- Provide health surveillance as appropriate
- Provide free any protective clothing or equipment required;
- Ensure that appropriate safety signs are provided and maintained;
- Report certain injuries, diseases and dangerous occurrences to the appropriate health and safety enforcing authority.
Publications and free leaflets to help you comply with the rules, doing risk assessments and examples of
policies can be found on www.businesslink.gov.uk and www.hse.gov.uk, but I would also recommend attending a training course if possible as this is such an important and complex subject.
Please continue to send in your questions by e-mail to richard.
maynard@newburynews.co.uk flagged ‘Ask Tina’ so that our experts at Griffins can help and advise you on business matters.
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