New Regulations for Agency Workers

New regulations were announced for Agency workers to be entitled to the same basic conditions of employment as comparable permanent employees. The change is effective from 1 October 2011 with the intention of granting agency workers the same pay and holidays as permanent employees provided they remain with the company for a qualifying period of 12 weeks.

The announcement has significant impact for employers who must now factor in holiday pay for agency staff.

New IXBRL requirements effective from April 2011

It is now compulsory for limited companies to send their Company Tax Returns online using iXBRL for accounts and computations. The new requirements are effective for returns delivered on or after 2011. It will no longer be acceptable for most companies to send either the accounts or computations on paper or as a PDF attachment to an online return. The new requirements are effective for returns delivered on or after 1 April 2011, for any accounting periods ending after 31 March 2010.

Disguised Remuneration Rules

The HMRC released a new policy over disguised remuneration effective 6 April 2011. This covers new anti avoidance rules over employment income paid through third parties. Individuals receiving income from overseas companies will be affected by the new policy and will need to consider whether the income falls within the HMRC definition of disguised remuneration. If so, the individuals will need to declare the income on their future tax returns.