Apprenticeship Levy services
How can Aspire assist you to become Apprenticeship Levy compliant?
If you need any assistance in ensuring compliance with the levy, then Aspire can help.
- Establish if you are liable to pay the Apprenticeship Levy
- Asses your pay bill to determine your liability for the Apprenticeship Levy
- Advise on the adjustments you need to make to your processes to make a levy payment
- Account for Apprenticeship Levy costs
- Connected companies
- The Apprenticeship Service: paying for training
What is the Apprenticeship Levy?
The Apprenticeship Levy was introduced on April 6th, 2017 as part of Government’s pledge to develop vocational skills in the UK and increase the quantity and quality of apprenticeships.
The levy is 0.5% of the employer’s annual pay bill and is collected on a monthly basis by HM Revenue and Customs (‘HMRC’) through Pay As You Earn (‘PAYE’). Employers receive an allowance of £15,000 to offset against their levy payment and so, only employers with an annual pay bill of above £3m (whether they employ an apprentice or not) will be required to make a payment to HMRC. The annual pay bill is defined as employee earnings that are subject to Class 1 secondary NICs. The connected persons rules apply in the same way as for Employment Allowance and so, employers who operate more than one payroll or are connected to other companies would only be able to claim one £15,000 allowance.
Employers that pay the levy can create an account on the Apprenticeship Service to receive levy funds to spend on apprenticeships, manage apprenticeships and manage payments to the training provider. The levy is used to fund training. It cannot be used to pay your apprentice’s wages. Funds that aren’t used within 24 months will expire.
What happens if I don’t pay the Apprenticeship Levy?
If HMRC are unhappy with the conduct of an employer regarding the Apprenticeship Levy, inaccuracy penalties may be raised.
HMRC’s strategy is to support employers to correctly report and pay the levy. If a HMRC officer was to spot an inaccuracy or an instance of noncompliance, they should help the employer to correct their mistake.
They will do this by;
- Raising an employer’s awareness
- Providing specific advice on how to calculate the levy
- Advising the employer on what action to take to make sure they report and pay the right amount of levy
It is very important to make sure that you are paying the apprenticeship levy correctly. Protecting your reputation and finances should be a business priority and resisting compliance with the Apprenticeship Levy is a sure fire way to maximise risk.
Why choose Aspire?
Aspire strive to protect our clients from financial and reputational risk. If you are unsure about your obligations regarding the Apprenticeship Levy, let us take the strain, while you focus on gain. Managing your compliance obligations whilst running a business is a difficult task. Make sure that you are able to concentrate on business aspects that are the most important to you by outsourcing your Apprenticeship Levy compliance with Aspire.
