Employment Law News

Apprenticeship levy bill published

Draft legislation has been published which would require employers to pay an annual apprenticeship levy.

HMRC’s draft legislation provides that employers who pay employer’s national insurance contributions (NICs) will have to pay 0.5% of their total NIC bill each tax year less an allowance of £15,000. In practice, this means that employers who pay over £3 million in employer’s NICs in any given tax year would be caught by the new measures.

The draft, which is part of the Finance Bill 2016, is currently subject to comment and the levy is expected to apply from 6 April 2017.

The draft legislation has generally proved unpopular among employers, with some referring to it as a ‘payroll tax’. In any event, as the rules are slightly different to existing NIC legislation, employers can also expect to pay compliance costs to ensure that those who operate the payroll are aware of the rules before they come into force.

HMRC: Apprenticeship Levy
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/apprenticeship-levy/apprenticeship-levy