June 16th 2022, Release Note: WFM UK | Payroll: Student & Post Graduate Loan refunds through Payroll, National Insurance Primary Threshold Changes – Fourth & HotSchedules Customer Success Portal

Summary

Select the release feature from the table below to be taken directly to that section of the release note.

Feature 1

Feature 2

Student & Postgraduate Loan refunds through Payroll

New option for student and postgraduate refunds to be made through the Payroll module

National Insurance Primary Threshold Changes

Changes to NI thresholds used in the Employee National Insurance calculation.

PAYE – National Insurance Threshold rates for 2022 can be found at the bottom of this release note - click here

Release date for all features: June 16th 2022

Student & Post Graduate Loan Refunds through Payroll

Enabled by Default? - Yes
Set up by customer Admin? - No
Enable via Support ticket? - No
Affects configuration or data? - No

What's Changing?

A new option in the Payroll module that allows for the processing of student & postgraduate loan refunds.

Reason for the Change

HMRC are now requesting that employers refund overpaid student and postgraduate loans directly through their payrolls.

Customers Affected

All customers using the Payroll module.

Release Note Info/Steps

To view a student loan, go to Payroll > Employees > Employee List
Search for and select an Employee
Go to Payroll Info > Student/Postgraduate Loans

Fig.1 - Student/Postgraduate Loan page

To process a refund, a stop date must be added to the student loan record.

Select the Student Loan record to be refunded
Enter a date for Loan Completed and then Save

Fig.2 - Editing a loan - Loan Completed field

Select the Student Loan record and then Click Here to Process a Refund

A new field will appear, where the amount to be refunded to the employee can be entered. The Year To Date (YTD) deduction for the loan is also displayed (see Fig.3). This YTD includes any amount deducted for the employee in the current tax year.

In the Current Refund Amount, enter the amount that should be refunded to the employee
Select Save

Fig.3 - Student/Postgraduate loan refund

Please note: The refund amount cannot exceed the YTD total for the current tax year

Once a refund has been processed the 'current YTD deducted' figure will reduce by the amount refunded. A negative loan amount will show in the employee's payslip and the amount will be added to their Net Pay amount - see Fig.4.

Fig.4 - Employee payslip summary - negative Student Loans figure and Net Pay

The refund will also show on all payroll reports and exports that display student/postgraduate loan deductions.

When viewing a student/postgraduate loan record, details of all refunds will display - see Fig.5.

Fig.5 - Past refunds on a student loan record

Additional Information

Student/postgraduate loan refunds for a previous tax year cannot be processed through payroll. An amended FPS submission should be used to advise HMRC of the reduction, and a manual payment should be made to the employee

If the loan end date is in the future then the loan will continue to deduct until that date, at which point the refund will be made

Multiple refunds can be made for the same student/postgraduate loan as long as the total amount refunded does not exceed the YTD total for the current tax year