Dear Friend, - The Methodist Church in Britain



FINANCIAL SERVICES32575512700 December 2019To: All ministers and probationers stationed in active work All District and Circuit Treasurers Dear Friend, We are distributing this letter by e-mail to all Ministers, Probationers, Circuit and District Treasurers. Please feel free to forward to others who you think may find it useful. We have repeated some information from earlier newsletters, which may be useful for newly appointed Treasurers, Minister and Probationers or a useful reminder for the more seasoned. We have included on pages 4-5 timetables with the key dates and deadlines for 2020. Contacting the team Please do not hesitate to contact the Payroll Team with any payroll related queries: For the ministers payroll and benefits please e-mail stipends@.uk For the lay payroll please e-mailpayrollbureau@.uk Additionally, the contact details for individual members of the finance team can be found on the Finance page of the Methodist Church website or by using this link: Stipends, Grants and Allowances The standard stipend for 2020/21 has been calculated as ?25,524, an increase of 2.7% over 2019/20. This will be recommended to the 2020 Conference and apply from 1 September 2020. The basis of the recommended increase is the average of the increases in the Consumer Price Index to September 2019 (1.7%) and the Average Weekly Earnings Index for August 2019 (3.6%). Computers for Ministry The Computers for Ministry Allowance for 2020/21 will be ?169 to be paid with the October 2020 stipend. It is payable to all ministers except those whose computing facilities are provided at their place of work. The allowance is non-pensionable and subject to tax and National Insurance. Student ministers entering training are eligible to receive a grant equal to four times the annual allowance. They will then be eligible to receive the annual allowance once they begin ministry. Student ministers already in training at September 2018, were also able to claim this one-off grant. (Previously this grant would have been claimed by probationer ministers on first appointment). Ministers’ Grant Applications The Finance Team at Methodist Church House deals with requests for grants to ministers, which are available from various funds. The forms for grant applications are available on the Methodist Church website at this link: Completed grant applications should be sent to the finance office at Methodist Church House by e-mail to: ministerial.grants@.uk Annual grant for children of ministers This grant is to assist with educational needs of ministers’ children. It is for extra-curricular educational activities and materials. The maximum annual grant is ?300 per year, per child aged 3 to 18. Please note, it is not a general grant for children or for core tuition fees. The maximum qualifying household income level is 2 x standard stipend. The grant is taxable and paid on completion of the grant form with supporting receipts by application to payroll. The grant is paid from the Methodist Ministers’ Children’s Fund (Trinity Hall Trust) Methodist Ministers’ Children’s Relief Association (MMCRA) The MMCRA is available to help ministers’ to support the care of children, including adult dependent children, in need in particular because of incapacity or disability. The normal grant available on application is ?600 per child per annum, but larger amounts are available in exceptional circumstances. Grants for Ministers with children in the UK on Tier 2 Visas Ministers who are unable to claim state benefits for children may claim the equivalent amount from the Methodist Church Fund until such time as their immigration status enables them to make such claims on the UK state. If you think you may be eligible for this grant, please contact the Finance office at ministerial.grants@.uk. Grants subject to tax Please note that where reference is made to grants subject to tax, these will generally be subject to tax and national insurance, depending on individual circumstances. Methodist Ministers Pension Scheme Circuit Contribution 26.9% of standard stipend (currently ?6,685.18 per annum) Ministers’ Contribution 9.3% of standard stipend (currently ?2,311.23 per annum) The Circuit contribution applies to all ministers on the stipends payroll, both active and supernumerary, even for ministers who have opted out of membership. Relocation Allowance The relocation allowance payable by the receiving circuit to ministers upon moving manse is ?600 per minister or in the case of two ministers sharing the same manse, one payment of ?800. This is in addition to the full cost of travel and removal, as defined in SO 528. The grant will be taxable unless it meets the criteria described on page 8. Ministers’ Stationing 2020 We will send a more detailed communication about the process for verifying stipend details closer to the September 2020 implementation date. Ministers’ payroll – 2020 timetableDeadline for information to be sent to Payroll by Debit Statement Collections Collections due from Circuits - Apprenticeship levy Collections due from Circuits - Class 1A NI on P11D expenses Pay Day - Credit to Ministers' bank accounts Wednesday 15th January 2020 Friday 24th January 2020 Wednesday 29th January 2020 31st January 2020 Friday 14th February 2020 Monday 24th February 2020Wednesday 26th February 2020 28th February 2020 Friday 14th March 2020 Monday 24th March 2020Wednesday 26th March 2020 1st April 2020 Tuesday 15th April 2020 Friday 25th April 2020 Tuesday 29th April 2020 1st May 2020 Thursday 15th May Friday 23th May 2020 Wednesday 28th May 2020 Friday 30th May 2020 Friday 13th June 2020 Wednesday 25th June 2020 Friday 27th June 2020 Tuesday 1st July 2020 Tuesday 15th July 2020 Friday 25th July 2020 Wednesday 30th July 2020 Thursday 31st July 2020 Friday 1st August 2020 Friday 15th August 2020 Friday 22nd August 2020 Thursday 28th August 2020 Monday 1st September 2020 Friday 12th September 2020 Monday 22th September 2020 Friday 26th September 2020 Wednesday 1st October 2020 Tuesday 15th October 2020 Friday 25th October 2019 Wednesday 30th October 2020 Friday 1st November 2020 Friday 15th November 2020 Monday 25th November 2020 Wednesday 27th November 2020 Friday 29th November 2020 Friday 11th December 2020Wednesday 23th December 2020Monday 28th December 2020 Tuesday 31st December 2020 UK Bank Holidays 2020 Wednesday 1st January 2020 Friday 10th April 2020Monday 13th April 2020 Friday 8th May 2020Monday 25th May 2020 Monday 31st August 2020 Friday 25th December 2020 Monday 28th December 2020 Lay employee payroll bureau - 2020 timetableDeadline for information to be sent to Payroll by Cash due from Circuits - Debit Statement Collections Cash due from Circuits - Apprenticeship levy Cash due from Circuits - Class 1A Pay Day - Credit to Lay Employees bank accounts Direct Debit due date - Debit Statement Collections Direct Debit due date - Apprenticeship Levy Direct Debit due date - Class 1A Thursday 2nd January 2020 Friday 10th January 2020Friday 24th January 2020 Wednesday 15th January 2020 Monday 3rd February 2020 Monday 10th February 2020Monday 24th February 2020 Friday 14th February 2020 Monday 2st March 2020Wednesday 11th March 2020 Wednesday 25th March 2020 Friday 13th March 2020 Wednesday 1st April 2020Friday 10th April 2020 Friday 24th April 2020 Wednesday 15th April 2020 Friday 1st May Monday 11th May 2020 Monday 25th May 2020 Friday 15th May 2020 Monday 1st June 2020 Thursday 11th June 2020 Thursday 24th June 2020 Monday 15th June 2020 Wednesday 1st July 2020 Friday 10th July 2019 Friday 24th July 2020 Friday 24th July Wednesday 15th July 2020Monday 3rd August 2020 Tuesday 11th August 2020 Tuesday 25th August 2020 Friday 14th August 2019 Tuesday 1st September 2020 Wednesday 11th September 2020 Friday 25th September 2020 Tuesday 15th September 2020 Thursday 1st October 2020 Monday 12th October 2020 Friday 23th October 2020 Thursday 15th October 2020 Monday 2nd November 2020Wednesday 11th November 2020Wednesday 25th November 2020 Friday 13th November 2020 Tuesday 1st December 2020 Friday 11th December 2020 Friday 18th December 2020 Tuesday 15th December 2020 Please note that effective January 2020, we will only be able to process New Starters and Leavers received using the forms and are unable to accept incomplete forms or forms without the Circuit Name and Number. Payroll Bureau Lay Employees Annual Increases 2020 The Payroll Bureau Team will only action an annual increase in the September 2020 payroll on receipt of instructions from the Treasurer. Please note, this is separate from the on-going increases throughout the year as per the instructions received from the Treasurers for their Lay employees. New Starters and Leavers form - Payroll Bureau Lay Employees We formally introduced and rolled out to all Circuits the New Starters and Leavers forms. If you have any queries, please do not hesitate to contact any member of the Payroll Bureau Lay Employees team on: - payrollbureau@.uk Pensions Auto Enrolment (Payroll Bureau ONLY) It is the Employer’s responsibility to auto enrol their employees, please inform the Payroll Bureau Team of your auto enrolment date, nominated Auto Enrolment Pension Scheme, as well as the relevant contribution rates. Circuit Debit Statements We aim to send Debit Statements to Treasurers in advance of payment for all payrolls. Please check the information to ensure that your Circuit/District/Church is being charged correctly (including the relevant Circuit CFB/bank account for collection of costs). If amendments are required, please email the relevant payroll inbox to enable us to make any adjustments on a timely basis. We are aware that a number of Treasurers have requested that this be emailed to them, however we do not currently have the facility to email individual monthly Debit Statements to all our Circuits as a bulk exercise, hence why they are sent via post. This request is being reviewed as part of process improvement. Payslips We kindly ask that you encourage your staff and ministers to check their payslips on a monthly basis and advise Payroll of any errors as soon as possible. This enables us to provide you with an accurate and timely service. Self-Assessment For untaxed income earned during the 2018-19 tax year, the online deadline for filing your Self-Assessment tax returns to HMRC and paying your bill is midnight 31 January 2020. Taxation DirectoryThe Taxation Directory is a set of notes on the tax treatment of a number of topics, put together chiefly with Methodist ministers in mind. It has been updated during 2019 and can be found on the website at Year End Certificates (P60) for year ended 5th April 2020 The Form P60 for Tax Year 2019-20 will be available in May 2020, for anyone on the payroll as at the 5th April 2020. On receipt, please retain this in a safe place as you may need it: - To complete your Self-Assessment tax return (if applicable)To claim back any tax, you may have overpaid from HM Revenue & Customs (if applicable)To apply for tax credits (if applicable)Or simply to provide proof of income If you are a minister you will probably need to complete a tax return, particularly if you have received untaxed income during the year.The Tax Office helpline telephone number is 0300 200 3200, please have your National Insurance number available as you will be asked to quote it. Form P11d for the year ended 2019/20 The deadline for employers to return forms P11D and P11D (b) for Tax Year 2019/20 to HMRC and provide copies to Ministers and Lay Employees in receipt of taxable benefits and expenses is the 6th July 2020. We will provide further guidance nearer to this date. As a general guideline expenses incurred wholly and exclusively in connection with employment are exempt from PAYE and NI. Moving between manses When a minister is stationed to a new circuit, the receiving circuit pays the removal expenses. No taxable benefit will arise on the minister as long as the cost of the move does not exceed ?8,000. Further information on this subject can be found in the HMRC website: This HMRC exemption applies to expenses that are “reasonably provided in connection with a change in the minister's residence” including: costs of transporting belongings including temporary storage costs; Travel and subsistence for the minister and family to visit the new circuit. buying certain things for a new home (described in the HMRC guidelines) The relocation allowance of ?600 (or ?800 for two ministers) may form part of the ?8,000 qualifying exempt payment. The allowance only qualifies as a tax free payment if the above conditions are met, and the minister provides proof of expenditure. If either of these conditions are not met, then the payment does not qualify as exempt and should be claimed through the Stipend subject to tax and NI. Travel Allowances Car: up to 10,000 miles 45p per mile over 10,000 miles 25p per mile Motorcycle 24p per mile Bicycle 20p per mile Additional passenger rate 5p per mile These are the maximum rates of mileage reimbursements that may be made without a charge to tax or national insurance. Employers do not need to report mileage payments on P11D returns provided they do not exceed these rates. The additional passenger rate of 5p per mile is available to drivers for each passenger who is an “employee” (including volunteers) of the same Circuit. The passenger travelling must be on a business journey and would otherwise have travelled independently and made their own travel claim. The names of the relevant passengers should be given when claims are made. Sickness and Maternity Certificates Please may we remind Ministers that the Payroll Team needs to receive all sick notes (as per the reimbursement of sickness process) and MAT B1 maternity certificates promptly. For maternity and paternity leave we need to be advised when it starts and confirmation of when it ended. Please note that there is a different procedure regarding lay employees. We don’t need to receive their sick notes. The treasurers should keep them and send us information on what to pay their employees depending on their contracts. Additionally, please notify us of maternity and paternity leave start and end dates. The Living Wage In accordance with Conference resolutions, the minimum rate of pay for all lay employees should be the Real Living Wage set by the Living Wage Foundation each November to take effect no later than 1 April in the following year. The rates may be found at this link The rates set in November 201 for April 2019 were: ?9.00 per hour (previously ?8.75) in all regions (except London) and ?10.55 per hour (previously ?10.20) in London. The rates for April 2020 are ?9.30 and ?10.75 respectively. Circuit Mergers and updates to Treasurers contact details If you have not already done so, please let us know whether your Circuit will merge with another from 1st September 2020. We will need the details of the Treasurer of the combined Circuit and the nominated CFB or bank account for cash collections. Additionally, please update us with any changes to Treasurers’ contact details to ensure you are kept updated with all relevant communications (via email or post) Gift AidFor those of you who are Gift Aid secretaries you will know the difficulties we have trying to ensure we comply with the General Data Protection Regulations. To further improve our compliance and make the process of submitting Gift Aid claims more streamlined we will be launching a ‘portal’ in 2020 where claims can be downloaded/uploaded without the need for sending files through unsecure email channels. More information on this will be sent out to gift aid secretaries in the new year.Current Allowances Tax Allowances 2019/20Personal allowance ?12,500Married Couples allowance for those born before 6th April 1935 Maximum Minimum ?8,915 ?3,450Transferable marriage allowance ?1,250Blind persons allowance ?2,450 Tax Thresholds 2019/20 20% Basic Rate Limit on income up to ?37,500 40% Higher Rate Limit on income over ?37,50045% additional rate on income over ?150,000 National Insurance There have been no changes to the percentage of National Insurance Class 1 contributions; they remain at 12% for employees, and 2% above the upper earnings limit. Employers Class 1 have remained the same at 13.8%. The limits and thresholds have changed, as illustrated in the table below. 2019/20 Weekly Monthly Annual Lower Earnings Limit (LEL) ?118 ?511 ?6,136 Primary Threshold (PT) ?166 ?719 ?8,632 Secondary Threshold (ST) ?166 ?719 ?8,632 Upper Apprenticeship Secondary Threshold (AUST)(apprentice under 25) ?962 ?4,167 ?50,000 Upper Secondary Threshold ( UST)(under 21) ?962 ?4,167 ?50,000 Upper Earnings Limit (UEL) ?962 ?4,167 ?50,000 Class 1A contributions (employer only – applied to benefits reported on P11d forms) 13.8% Wishing you all a Happy Christmas and best wishes for the New Year 18662651885950From all of us in the Finance Team ................
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