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Chartered Accountants of Poynton, Cheshire

National minimum wage

From 1 October 2007 this is set at £5.52 per hour for workers aged 22 or  older.  The reduced development rate for employees aged between 18 and 21 is £4.60 per hour.  The rate for workers who are under 18 and no longer of compulsory school age is set at £3.40 per hour.

National Insurance numbers

It is vital that, as an employer, you show full and correct National Insurance numbers on all documents on which you record contributions, particularly when the forms are submitted to HMRC as part of PAYE compliance.

If an employee does not know their National Insurance number, you can trace it through HMRC by filling in HMRC leaflet CA6855.

If you have doubts over the accuracy of the National Insurance numbers that you hold, HMRC can check and update them for you.

The full procedure is set out in HMRC leaflet CA89.

Employee leaving?

When one of your employees leaves, you need to give them a form P45 and send a copy to HMRC.

You can file P45s online, and this will be compulsory for small employers by April 2011.

Employers with 50 or more employees must file online by April 2009.

The form is straightforward to fill in but even simple errors could mean your form is rejected.

These errors include incorrect or missing National Insurance numbers, pay details or tax codes.

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