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The website, written and published by the Low Incomes Tax Reform Group (LITRG) and supported with funding from HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC), provides information, help and resources for disabled people taking on a personal assistant. It has been enhanced to coincide with a series of workshops being run jointly by LITRG and Disability Rights UK.

 

The Government is encouraging independent living by giving people more choice about how their social and care needs are met through systems such as direct payments and personal budgets. Those who use government money to take on a personal assistant, as well as those who fund help privately, face the possibility of becoming an employer and having to deal with responsibilities such as tax, national insurance, paying wages and employment law.

 

The LITRG Disability Tax Guide website aims to help and support disabled people who become ‘accidental’ employers of carers or personal assistants. Visitors to the site can download a newly published basic guide which explains the things that people need to consider. The guide is supported by a series of factsheets which explain important topics in more detail and provide links to the more detailed guidance on tax employment status, paying wages and tax issues on the website.

 

The website will not only be useful to any individuals taking on – or thinking of taking on – a personal assistant, but also for local authorities and other organisations who advise on independent living, personal budgets, and employing personal assistants. Taking into account the shift from PAYE to real-time information (RTI) reporting of payments to employees, the availability of clear support and guidance in one place is crucial for employers of personal assistants. The site also features a free payslip tool that has been specially designed to work with the HMRC payroll software.

 

Working with Disability Rights UK, LITRG is also holding a series of 12 workshops across the UK which are aimed at helping new and prospective employers of personal assistants navigate the tax and National Insurance consequences of taking on a personal assistant.

 

In addition to supporting the website and workshops, LITRG will be running a pilot email help service which will run until April 2015 and will provide additional support to website users who have specific tax and National Insurance queries. The help service will be staffed by LITRG technical officers. Queries can be sent to litrgdtg@litrg.org.uk. More information about the scope of the help service is available on the website. 

 

Disability Tax Guide website

Disability section of LITRG website