Income Tax
Tax Code Uplift
There have been changes to the annual tax allowance. The tax codes have been increased depending on the tax code suffix. The standard L rate has been increased by £400. This means the new standard tax code is 1150L. M tax codes have increased by £550 while N tax codes have been increased by £450.
All tax codes will be uplifted automatically once the year-end process has taken place.
Tax Thresholds
Last year introduced the Scottish Rate of Income Tax (SRIT). Both rates shared the same tax thresholds. This year SRIT and the rest of the UK (rUK) have different thresholds.
| rUK Tax Threshold | SRIT Tax Threshold | Tax Rate |
| £0 – £33,500 | £0 – £31,500 | 20% |
| £33,501 – £150,000 | £31,501 – £150,000 | 40% |
| Over £150,000 | Over £150,000 | 45% |
National Insurance
Threshold Changes
All the bands have been increased this year. The table below shows the new thresholds.
| Pay Period | LEL | PT | ST | AUST | UEL | LEL = Lower Earnings Limit PT = Primary Threshold ST = Secondary Threshold AUST = Apperentice Upper Secondary Threshold UEL = Upper Earnings Limit |
| Weekly | £113 | £157 | £157 | £866 | £866 | |
| Monthly | £490 | £680 | £680 | £3,750 | £3,750 | |
| Annual | £5,876 | £8,164 | £8,164 | £45,000 | £45,000 |
National Insurance Numbers Beginning with ‘KC’
We’ve updated our validation. KashFlow Payroll and RTI submissions now accept National Insurance numbers with prefix ‘KC’.
Statutory Payments
Statutory Rates
The Government has increased statutory rates in tax year 2017/18 after last years freeze. Statutory rates include maternity pay, paternity pay, shared parental pay, adoption pay and sick pay.
| Statutory Payment | Weekly Amount |
| SMP | £140.98 |
| SAP | £140.98 |
| SPP | £140.98 |
| ShPP | £140.98 |
| SSP | £89.35 |
Employment Allowance
The Employment Allowance will remain at £3000, providing you are still eligible. To check that you are claiming Employment Allowance, go to Company, Setup Details, Government and ensure the Employment Allowance box is selected. Otherwise you may receive an underpayment notification from HMRC.
Student Loan
From 6 April 2017, the repayment threshold for Plan One will increase. Plan Two will see no change in April:
| Student Loan Type | 2017/2018 |
| Plan 1 | £17,775 |
| Plan 2 | £21,000 |
Apprenticeship Levy
The Government is introducing the apprenticeship levy on 6 April 2017. The levy requires all employers operating in the UK, with a pay bill over £3 million each year, to invest in apprenticeships.
Your annual pay bill is all payments to employees that are subject to employer Class 1 secondary National Insurance contributions (NICs) such as wages, bonuses and commissions.
Employers who aren’t connected to another company or charity will have an Apprenticeship Levy allowance of £15,000 each year.
The allowance reduces the amount of Apprenticeship Levy you have to pay by £15,000 across the year. This means that only employers with an annual pay bill of more than £3 million will pay the levy.
Apprenticeship Levy is charged at 0.5% of your annual pay bill.
| Apprenticeship Levy | 2017/2018 |
| Levy Threshold | £3,000,000 |
| Levy Allowance | £15,000 |
| Percentage Charged At | 0.5% |
Car & Car Fuel Benefits via Payroll
We’ve added a new sub-section to the Employee menu, which allows you to add company cars or company car fuel to your employees. The value of the benefit will be calculated automatically and added to the employee’s taxable pay.
This means you can choose to payroll company car as a benefit in kind instead of submitting the P46(Car) Form. Car benefits can now be reported via FPS.
Pension
Automatic Re-enrolment
Automatic re-enrolment is the process where as an employer must re-enrol certain staff into a pension scheme that can be used for automatic enrolment, if they’re not already active members of one.
It takes place regularly every three years, and also happens on an immediate basis if a worker or the pension scheme meets certain criteria. All employees that meet these criteria will be automatically re-enrolled.
Employee Pension Screen
In order to provide Re-enrolment, we’ve redesigned the employee pension screen. This makes it easier to view critical information, and makes it even easier to use.
Transition Period Ending
The transitional period for schemes with defined benefits allows the employer to choose to delay automatic enrolment. This period is coming to an end on 31/09/2017. This means that anyone who is using a transitional period will be automatically enrolled on, and after 01/10/2017. You will also be unable to select transitional period after this date has been reached.
Help and Support
HMRC Online Service Helpdesk
Tel: 0300 200 3600
Fax: 0844 366 7828
Email: [email protected]
HMRC Employer Helpline
Tel: 0300 200 3200
HMRC Employer Helpline (for new business)
Tel: 0300 200 3211