The last few Budget announcements have been something of a roller-coaster ride for the world of Employee Benefits.

Each and every one has contained some real - and often unexpected - challenges in this space for both employers and the benefits industry. So all parties could probably do with a quiet autumn Budget Statement from the Chancellor on Wednesday.

And the evidence available to date suggests that this may indeed be the case given that the major topics in the benefits space have all moved on (or been delayed) during the last few months.

So a quick summary of the current state of play - and links where appropriate - is probably called for:

Fit for Work: The government-funded service to allow for a free assessment for any employee off work for 4 weeks or more has now been launched and is nationally available. It is therefore unlikely to feature in this Statement.

Insurance Premium Tax (IPT): A major increase to IPT was announced in the Summer Budget, and this only came into force earlier this month. So no further changes would be expected here either.

Tax Free Childcare: This key initiative has been pushed back until “early” in 2017 - so there is no reason why this would appear in Wednesday’s Statement.

Pensions Auto-Enrolment: Is progressing nicely - albeit with a significant increase in enforcement actions by the regulator. There has been some talk of an extension of the Staging Date deadline for the very smallest employers in the UK (the so called “Pause” button) - but this is unlikely to appear in the Statement tomorrow.

Pensions Freedoms: These new rules came fully into force earlier this year - and are unlikely to be tweaked until the outcomes on the consultation on tax-reliefs have been fully announced.

Employee Volunteering Rights: Reports in the Daily Mail this week suggest that this topic could well be returning to the political agenda after it’s announcement in the Conservative Manifesto. So its not inconceivable that this subject might appear as a headline-grabbing conclusion to the Budget Statement. That said, the policy is unlikely to have any significant Treasury involvement, impact, or funding, so it’s difficult to see why this should appear in the Chancellor’s speech.

Strengthening the incentive to save consultation: This key consultation was announced in the Summer Budget and the outcomes will dictate the direction of workplace savings for the foreseeable future. The Chancellor has recently hinted that any decisions here will not be announced until the Spring Budget - so unless finances dictate otherwise we may see no immediate change here as yet

We will of course report any major changes here as soon as we are able to do so.

Best regards

Steve

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