Mini-Budget 2022: HMRC tells firms to update payroll software ahead of November NI tax cut
Summary
HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) is warning businesses to get their payroll software systems urgently updated to reflect the government’s decision to roll back the 1.25% uplift in National Insurance rates introduced in April 2022. The government’s announced cut to National Insurance rates was made public ahead of the chancellor of the exchequer, Kwasi Kwarteng, delivering his first fiscal statement – dubbed the mini-budget – on Friday 23 September 2022. As previously reported by Computer Weekly, various stakeholders from across the contractor community had expressed their hope in the lead-up to the event that a cut in National Insurance rates would be forthcoming. The Association of Independent Professionals and the Self-Employed (IPSE) has been fiercely opposed to the National Insurance hike ever since it was first mooted, and its director of policy, Andy Chamberlain, complemented the new chancellor on his “sensible decision” to axe it. “It will, however, result in an unexpected administrative burden for umbrella providers and accountants, who will need to amend their systems mid-tax year and communicate with impacted employees and customers.”