It’s long been said that putting all your eggs in one basket is risky. Many small business owners may fear that risk of becoming a reality. Take the UK’s farming sector as an example. Faced with extreme weather, policy shifts and volatile prices, farmers have increasingly turned to other sources of income to keep their businesses viable.
The new National Living Wage and National Minimum Wage rates will come into force from 1 April 2025. There are also changes to the National Insurance employers pay that take effect from 6 April. For many businesses, the April payroll will represent a sizeable step up in labour costs.
Latest figures released by the Office for National Statistics (ONS) show that average wages are continuing to grow faster than inflation. After adjusting for consumer price inflation (CPI), wages rose 3.4% between October and December 2024 when compared with the same period in 2023. Unemployment figures also appear to be encouraging, with the UK’s unemployment rate remaining at 4.4%.
Legislation was laid before Parliament last week confirming that the new National Living Wage and new Minimum Wage rates will take effect from 1 April 2025. While many businesses are feeling and have expressed concern about the increases, the sight of the legislation suggests that no reprieve is in sight.
The Office for National Statistics’ (ONS) latest official figures for October show that the economy shrank for the second month in a row, while pay growth increased for the first time in more than a year. The official figures show that Gross Domestic Product (GDP) – often used as a measure of the economy as a whole – fell by 0.1% in October. This follows a similar reduction in September of 0.1%.
In the run up to the winter holidays, you may be considering taking on additional temporary staff to help with the workload. While these staff may only be with you for a short period, you still need to consider them for pension purposes each time you pay them. Staff need to be put into a pension scheme based on their ages and how much they earn. This applies to family members too.
From 1 April 2025, the rate for Employers National Insurance (NI) will increase from 13.8% to 15%. At the same time, the level at which employers start paying national insurance on each employee’s salary will be reduced from £9,100 per year to £5,000. The combination of these two changes means a potentially significant increase in payroll costs for businesses.
The latest annual update to Student Loan interest rates was made last week by the Department for Education. Different rates and thresholds apply depending on the type of student loan and the new rates will apply from 1 September 2024 to 31 August 2025.
Prior to the tax year starting each 6 April, HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC), will issue new tax codes to employees, usually where there is a change of tax code. These tax codes, a series of letter and numbers, allow employers to deduct the right amount of tax to be deducted from each employee when the payroll is run.
It is important to remember that the minimum wage pay rates are increasing with effect from 1 April 2024. Failing to increase to the new rates can result in penalties being charged.
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