As we get closer to Auto Enrolment for the owner managed business sector it would appear The Pensions Regulator is waking up to the fact, not all business is created the same.
Most businesses who have PAYE schemes will have now had letters from The Pensions Regulator giving scant details on your new legal duties, for those that haven’t, don’t worry, it’s on its way.
So, the latest development this week is The Pensions Regulator has finally realised that some businesses have only one or two directors with no employment contracts and no staff!
At last, because now, if you don’t want to set up and run an Automatic Enrolment Pension scheme for just yourself you can finally let The Pensions Regulator know and opt out.
If you follow this link to The Pensions Regulators website there is an email address ‘[email protected]’ this will open up pre-populated with the questions below, complete them and send the email off.
1. I confirm that [add your company name here] is not an employer for the purposes of automatic enrolment for the following reason.
[please select one option from the list below and delete the others]
a) There is only one director and there are no other staff working for the company.
b) The only people working for the company are directors and none of them has an employment contract.
c) The only people working for the company are directors and only one of them has an employment contract.
d) If there is another reason you believe you don’t have automatic enrolment duties, please provide a brief explanation.
2. The letter code for the company is: [add your letter code here]
3. The PAYE scheme(s) reference is: [add your PAYE reference(s) here]
4. The Companies House number (where applicable): [add your Companies House number (if you have one) here]
5. The name, email address, address and telephone number of contact at the company: [add these details here]
Please note that if we discover that you have provided false or misleading information in order to evade your automatic enrolment duties, we will take this into account when deciding whether to take action against you in future.
Remember, if you are a Director and you have a contract of employment and/or employ staff then you cannot opt out of your Automatic Enrolment duties and you need to deal with this legal requirement sooner rather than later.
If you are using a firm of accountants to advise you, keep them up to date with any actions you take, after all, as it currently stands Automatic Enrolment is a legal requirement and to not deal with it will ultimately prove very costly.
If you are interested in an Auto Enrolment Pension you will have no doubt found a lot of Independent Financial Advisers are not advising on this area, and we as accountants are not allowed to advise you on investment choices, so where does this leave you, well at Holden Associates we have actually spend the last 18 months looking for a credible Auto Enrolment solution to offer all our clients and their staff, an Auto Enrolment solution that will give them control over their pensions and ultimately their futures, for more information on this exciting Auto Enrolment solution please contact us today.
Even if you are not a client of Holden Associates and your current accountant has not already implemented an Auto Enrolment proposition please feel free to contact us and see how we can help you and your business, not just with Auto Enrolment but all your accounting, taxation and business support needs.
