The costs for running the election are paid for by the GLA. The GLA will provide you with instructions for accounting for the elections.
Payment of creditors
You should keep receipts before and throughout the period of the elections for all services/work provided, and pay all creditors as soon as possible after the elections.
Payment of fees to staff
When paying your fees to staff you need to consider the following.
Income tax
Under tax rules, a standard starter checklist, which is issued at the time of appointment, must be completed. It needs to be completed only once rather than reviewed every year. You will need to issue a P60 form to the employee at the end of the tax year.
If you terminate the employment of any of your casual staff following the election and issue them with a P45, then any returning casual staff who work at future elections will need to complete a new standard starter checklist at each new election.
HMRC real-time information
All election payments made will be subject to HMRC’s real-time information tax payment system. You should ensure that you liaise with your local authority’s finance and HR departments as soon as possible to ensure that you can comply with the tax rules for all your employees, including any temporary and short-term contract staff. Further guidance is available from HMRC.
Automatic enrolment into a workplace pension
All employers with staff working in the UK must comply with automatic enrolment requirements. Further guidance is available from the Pensions Regulator.