18 April 2019 
Caroline Jones, Employment tax director
You will be aware that there is currently an ongoing consultation into the off-payroll working rules, which will be extended to the private sector from April 2020. The consultation contains 17 questions and closes at 11.45pm on 28th May 2019. Some of the proposed changes could have an impact on the way universities deal with off-payroll workers. BUFDG was invited to attend a recent roundtable run by HMRC where participants were invited to put forward their views.
BUFDG will be submitting a response to the consultation, which includes questions about where the ultimate liability for PAYE and NIC may lie in the event that the fee-payer does not pay over the outstanding liability and HMRC is unable to recover it from the fee payer. The consultation suggests that the liability may rest with the client, i.e. the university.
Additionally, HMRC is considering legislative options that allow fee-payers to make contributions free of tax and NICs to the workers personal pension. Making pension contributions would effectively give fee-payers a deduction on the amount on which they will be required to pay employers NICs. The question posed is: ‘How likely is an off-payroll worker to make pension contributions through their fee-payer in this way? How likely is a fee-payer to offer an option to make pension contributions in this way? What administrative burdens might fee-payers face which would reduce the likelihood of them making contributions to the off-payroll worker’s pension?’
If you have any comments in response to the consultation please contact Caroline by 15th May.
