FSB urges SMEs to comply with new pensions legislation

The FSB has voiced concern that small firms are failing to comply with auto enrolment pensions legislation with their staging dates looming large.

An estimated 1.8 million small businesses are still required to meet their auto enrolment obligations between now and 2018 and the potential combined penalties for these businesses failing to comply ahead of their staging date amount to almost £22m.

Businesses with less than 30 employees are required to stage between October 2016 and April 2017 and the FSB is pleading with small business owners to take their auto enrolment obligations seriously.

To demonstrate how serious the FSB is taking auto enrolment, the trade body has unveiled its own workplace pensions scheme provider, FSB Premier.

Paul Baker, managing director of FSB Premier, said: “It is wrong to think no action is required if you only have one employee, or all your employees are opting out of having a workplace pension.

“We were getting asked by our members ‘what can you do for me?’ Many businesses do not want to do staging themselves and want it taken off their desk.

“The FSB insists that a product it offers must be available to all members anywhere so if you have one employee, we can AE for you.”

At TaxAssist Accountants we can work closely with you to make the auto-enrolment pensions process as easy as possible. Our partner, Wren Sterling has made an exclusive offer to all TaxAssist clients, with all businesses eligible for a workplace pension scheme through the Wren Sterling Master Trust.

As a TaxAssist client, you’ll be entitled to the following fantastic auto-enrolment benefits:

• Guaranteed acceptance for your employees
• State of the art, easy to use technology saving you valuable administration time
• Automated employee communications to help ensure compliance with regulations
• Compatible with all payroll solutions
• Employee & payroll information management
• Dedicated helpline
• One-off setup fee of £399 + VAT (60% off the RRP especially for TaxAssist Accountants’ clients) and an annual governance charge of £65 + VAT
• Support from our team of experts who can guide you through all aspects of auto enrolment, including communication to employees
• Access to Independent Financial Advice from Wren Sterling’s nationwide financial planners (fees will apply)

For more information about the Wren Sterling Master Trust, please don’t hesitate to contact our team today on 0800 0523 555 or drop us a line using our online enquiry form and your local TaxAssist Accountant will be able to provide you with everything you need to know to get started.

Date published 29 Sep 2016 | Last updated 20 Sep 2022