The Check Employment Status for Tax (CEST) tool allows contractors and other individuals providing services - or businesses engaging workers to perform services for them - to determine whether the work should be treated as employment or self-employment for tax purposes.

From the 2024-25 tax year, self-employed individuals with profits in excess of £6,725 no longer need to pay Class 2 national insurance contributions (NIC).

HMRC has confirmed that the mandatory payrolling of benefits in kind (BIKs) will be delayed to April 2027, giving businesses more time to get to grips with the process.

A persistent bug in the PAYE system is caused by the HMRC computer creating a duplicate employment record which it then uses to demand PAYE for wages which have not been paid.

Owners and directors of family businesses often take a small salary from the company and any extra funds as dividends. Other family members may also hold shares in the company and receive a dividend each year.

Companies can currently claim super-deduction allowances set at 130% of the cost of new plant and machinery or 50% of the purchase cost of certain fixtures and fittings for buildings. These super-deductions will expire on 31 March 2023.

Employers must send their PAYE reports to HMRC on or before the day they pay their employees. The full payment submission (FPS) report sets out what has been paid and the deductions made.

As an employer you can pay PAYE to HMRC using a direct debit (DD) but each DD authority only applies for a single payment, so the effort is hardly worth it.