Minimum Wage Vs Living Wage

Minimum Wage

The minimum wage is the lowest rate of pay that employers can legally pay to workers. Presently in Ireland the minimum wage stands at €8.65 per hour (apart from exceptions for apprentices etc.). However a low pay commission group is to be established and is expected to recommend an increase of €0.50 per hour. The commission is likely to be modelled on a similar body in the UK, which has employer and trade union representatives. Tánaiste Joan Burton said the minimum wage needs to be kept under constant review due to cost of living increases.

Employers’ groups such as Ibec and business groups such as the restaurant sector are strongly opposed any increase in the minimum wage and believe that any increase will inevitably lead to job losses and risk the economy’s fragile recovery. “There is no justifiable economic argument for imposing a 6% increase on SMEs when inflation is practically zero,” ISME’s Mark Fielding said. The Small Firms Association called on the government to reject the proposals, and freeze the minimum wage for the next three years.

Meanwhile the Unite trade union expressed its disappointment believing the proposed rise does not go far enough in its submission to the commission, it had sought a €1 increase.

The Living Wage

A living wage is based on the amount an individual needs to earn to cover the basic costs of living. A coalition of groups says this is about €11.45 an hour, significantly above the minimum wage of €8.65 an hour. Earnings below the living wage suggest employees are forced to do without certain essentials so they can make ends-meet. Ms Burton has encouraged employers to commit to paying a “living wage” to their employees. She has that this will benefit society by giving lower paid workers more spending power and reducing reliance on social welfare. However Ms Burton said the move towards a living wage should initially be on a voluntary basis, rather than a legally enforceable level of pay like the national minimum wage. In recent days Ikea in Ballymun announced that it will be introducing the living wage for all Irish and UK employees. Ms Burton has said “If people get a living wage, they have more spending power, more financial independence and can move away from welfare dependency. It benefits the family and the exchequer.”

Posted byBrian O'KeeffeinPay/Wage

New Bill allows for Attachment of Earnings or deduction from Social welfare for recovery of debt of between €500 and €4000

Creditors will be allowed to apply to the District Court for debts to be recovered by either attachment of earnings or deductions from social welfare payments under the terms of a Bill to be published by the Government recently.

The Minister's statement said the new Bill seeks to implement a number of recommendations of a 2010 Law Reform Commission report and provides access to new district court procedures to deal with certain debts where debtors "won't pay".

The debts covered are above €500 and less than €4,000 in value.

The statement says a creditor will continue to be obliged to obtain a judgment debt order from the district court, which establishes that there is an enforceable debt.

However, the new Bill will add he possibility of getting a district court to enforce the debt by means of either attachment of earnings or deductions from social welfare payments, as appropriate.

Ms Fitzgerald said the new options will be primarily of use to small businesses, tradespeople and the self-employed and utilities like Irish Water trying to recover debts from those who can afford to pay, but won't pay Consumer debts owed to financial institutions or licensed moneylenders and arising from loans are excluded. She said there are also very specific court-based protections for debtors who cannot pay.

Posted byAnn TigheinPayroll

PAYE Anytime

What is PAYE Anytime?

PAYE Anytime is the Revenues On-Line Service for employees. The service offers PAYE tax payers a secure way to manage their tax affairs online. PAYE Anytime is a self assessment system so employees are responsible for the information they provide.

You can register for PAYE Anytime by going to revenue.ie or by clicking on the below link.

https://www.ros.ie/selfservice/enterRegistrationDetails.faces

Fill in your personal details and a Revenue Pin will be posted to you.

What can you do on PAYE Anytime

• View your own tax records
• You can claim a wide range of tax credits
• You can use your profile to update your personal details; revenue can then use this information to suggest additional tax credits you may be entitled to
• You can claim a repayment for items such as health expenses (all receipts should be kept for a 6 year period)
• Request a P21 balancing statement (end of year review) for any of the last 4 years
• You can enter your bank account details so any refund due to you can be deposited directly to your bank account (revenue will not deduct money from your account if you have a tax liability)
• You can also declare additional income earned such as B.I.K’s and dividends
• If you are jointly accessed you can reallocate some of your tax credits or standard rate band between you and your spouse
• If you have multiple incomes you can reallocate your tax credits or standard rate band between your incomes

You don’t have to submit a paper claim when you submit transactions through PAYE Anytime. The service cannot be used by employees who submit a Form 11 or a Form 12 tax return to revenue on an annual basis.

PAYE Anytime now allows you to view your tax records from any computer or smart phone.

Posted byBrian O'KeeffeinPAYEPayrollPayroll Software