Invariably the management of workers and employees necessitates the creation of personnel records and a degree of monitoring of the workforce. On 25 May 2018, the EU General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) came into force. This is supplemented by the UK Data Protection Act 2018 (DPA 2018).
The Information Commissioner is responsible for enforcement of the GDPR. The Commissioner also has a duty to publish codes to promote good practice. These do not have the force of law but may be referred to in enforcement proceedings and reflect the Commissioner’s views. Employers are therefore strongly advised to familiarise themselves with the codes. The Information Commissioner has not yet published a GDPR-specific Code on employment and protection. However, the Code issued under the DPA 1998 (legislation prior to the introduction of GDPR) still provides helpful guidance. See the Employment Practices Code and the Employment Practices Code Supplementary Guidance, both of which can be downloaded from the Information Commissioner’s Office website. The Information Commissioner has also produced a useful general
Simple assessmentsFrom 2016/17 onwards, HMRC has the power to make a ‘simple assessment’ of the taxpayer’s income tax and / or capital gains tax liability outside of the self assessment system. As HMRC already receives significant amounts of information on the income received and tax paid by
Sales, advertising and marketingExpenditure on sales, advertising and marketing activities may include amounts which are disallowable for the purposes of calculating trading profits. This may be because the expenditure is:•capital in nature (see the Capital vs revenue expenditure guidance note)•not
Payroll record keepingUnder SI 2003/2682, reg 97, “...an employer must keep, for not less than 3 years after the end of the tax year to which they relate, all PAYE records which are not required to be sent to [HMRC]...”. Reasons for keeping the records include:•being able to calculate tax and