Deborah Pegg, Solicitor in both Astle Paterson’s Media, Entertainment, TV & Film and Commercial departments discusses the Apprenticeships Levy.
Deborah said, “The Apprenticeships Levy (‘AL’) is a new tax aimed at funding three million new Apprenticeships in England by 2020.
All U.K. employers who have a total employee pay bill above £3,000,000.00 per year will pay the AL. This includes public and private sector, charities and educational providers such as academy groups and universities.”
Deborah continued, “The AL came into effect in April 2017 and the levy rate was set at 0.5% of a company’s ‘pay bill’ following the November 2015 Comprehensive Spending Review. The ‘pay bill’ is defined as being the total employee earnings subject to Class 1 secondary NICs.”
Deborah concluded, “Employers get a £15,000 fixed annual allowance to offset against the AL payment. There are strict requirements as to how this allowance can be spent.
So, employers should take care before entering into any apprenticeship agreements that the arrangements fulfil the ‘statutory requirements’ under a recognised apprenticeship scheme.”
At Astle Paterson we have a number of highly experienced and knowledgeable commercial minded Solicitors on hand to help your business meet is legal obligations.
