As part of the fight against the Coronavirus outbreak, the Government asked for workers who had recently left the NHS and other public authority roles to consider returning. This included retirees and those who had left for other reasons including redundancy.
The guidance published on the Gov.UK website on 10 April gives clarity on how these individuals will be treated for tax and NIC purposes. Usefully, it makes clear that staff previously paid a redundancy payment which was tax and NI free (subject to the cap of £30K) will not have the tax and NIC clawed back because they have returned to public service. Unsurprisingly, returners will be subject to normal tax and NIC rules and will have to fill in a new starter form.
This clarification is especially welcome in providing clear confirmation on the situation for workers who had previously been made redundant. By removing the risk of an unexpected tax and NIC bill if they came back to the same or a similar role, it will remove a hurdle to their decision to return.
In separate guidance issued on the same day, it was stressed that unlike returnees who will fill paid roles, volunteers (including those who are on furlough from other employments) will not be allowed to be:
While not entirely unexpected, this makes the situation clear and will assist the NHS and Local Authorities in handling budgeting decisions on taking on volunteers.
For more information on this or any other related matter, please contact David Harmer at david.harmer@markel.com.