Upcoming Immigration & Global Mobility support for employers

Shortage Occupation List (SOL) - hospitality and construction industries

A rapid review was recently undertaken by the Migration Advisory Committee (MAC) to look at eligible roles on the Shortage Occupation List (SOL) for the hospitality and construction industries, ahead of the completion of the full review later this year. At this time the government has taken the MAC recommendation to add five construction occupations to the SOL – these are due to be added by Autumn 2023.

The government has also pledged to review the SOL on a more frequent basis to ensure that skills gaps and shortages within specific industries can be addressed more expeditiously.

This may be helpful given the lack of updates to the Apprenticeship Levy and funding available for training and development. Further details on this can be found here.

Business visitors - permitted activities

Further proposed changes relate to:

• an increase in the permitted activities for business visitors coming into the UK for up to 6 months; and
• expanding activities allowed under the Paid Engagements criteria, all with a view to make it easier and more attractive for individuals to enter the UK for business.

Again, these changes are proposed for Autumn 2023 so at the time of writing no actual guidance is currently available on how this will look.

What tax considerations should business visitors make?

The increase in permitted activities/paid engagements is likely to result in an increase in business travel. There is a real obligation for employers to be mindful that even if their workers are allowed to travel to the UK under a tourist/business visitor visa, they may still have PAYE income tax and NIC withholding obligations as a host employer in respect of short-term business visitors (STBV) obligations.

Consequently, employers need to ensure that they have an Appendix 4 STBV agreement in place with HMRC, and they have robust policies and processes in place (and technology tools), to track STBV and identify PAYE tax and NIC tax withholding trigger points. Plus, they need to obtain certificates of coverage for these employees (where applicable), to avoid an NIC withholding obligation.

What did the Spring Budget 2023 mean for Investor and Innovator visa routes?

Despite the emphasis in the Spring Budget on creating a friendly environment for investment into the UK, there was no mention of a review or re-opening of the Investor route, which closed to new applicants back in 2021. There was also no mention of the upcoming changes to the Innovator route which will come into effect on 12 April 2023. Under this route the requirement for an initial investment fund of £50,000 to be available has now been removed, potentially opening the UK up to a greater number of entrepreneurs with “innovative, viable and scalable” business ideas.

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If you require further information or support with your tax challenges, please get in touch today.

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