Election ’17 from a payroll perspective

A general election always bring with it the prospect of change to the world of payroll management. Indeed, the possibility of a shift in political direction and, new financial legislation as a result, has potentially major implications for how we process payrolls.

Running alongside this, at election time, is the issue of how employees assisting in election administration get taxed. HMRC rules on this area have altered in recent years, with the abolition of forms P527 and P528, as well as the introduction of the requirement to file election staff under RTI (as of the 2014/15 financial year). Accordingly, there is no longer any unique ELECT PAYE scheme, with election staff needing to be processed according to standard PAYE rules.

We at Dataplan are at the forefront of seeking to make this reality as hassle-free as possible for Returning Officers. Our services in the area include:

• Assisting the Returning Officer in creating a PAYE scheme and registering for RTI.
• Providing a secure online portal for dealing with employees for each election.
• Issuing instructions to employees on signing into our electronic portal.
• Obtaining new starter declarations (previously P46 forms).
• Obtaining declarations regarding the temporary waiving of Working Time Directive Rights.
• Obtaining bank details for payment.
• Receiving payment details from the Returning Officer.
• Processing the payroll, including any PAYE/NICs due.
• Providing the Returning Officer with the completed payroll for review.
• On approval of the payroll, the issuing of electronic payslips to employees.
• Sending both employees’ wages and PAYE/NICs payments to BACS.
• Processing any additional payment run necessary.
• Filing FPS submissions with HMRC, regarding the payments to employees.
• Issuing P45s electronically to employees.
• Filing EPS submissions with HMRC, advising that no further payments are due.

In short, our fully managed payroll service makes Returning Officers’ lives easier – enabling a sole focus on the smooth administration of the election for voters.