Where a nursing agency is newly identified, you should advise
the agency about the agency legislation in the following terms
‘Treatment of home nursing remuneration and agency
nurse's travellingand subsistence expenses
A qualified nurse who works in the home of a client is not
normally regarded as being subject to, or to the right of,
supervision, direction or control, so her earnings from such work
are not within the scope of the agency legislation. PAYE deductions
should not therefore be made from the remuneration paid to
qualified nurses in respect of home nursing. You should, however,
keep a record of all remuneration paid and be prepared to make a
yearly return of payments in respect of home nursing under Section
16 TMA 1970, if required to do so.
All other remuneration paid to qualified nurses should be
subject to PAYE and Class 1 NICs.
All remuneration paid to unqualified nurses, including that
for home nursing, should be subject to PAYE and Class 1 NICs.
For engagements within the scope of the agency legislation,
the client's premises are regarded as the place at which the
services are performed by the nurse. The expense of travelling to
that place is the cost of an ordinary commuting journey and if it
is met by the agency it will be regarded as additional earnings.
Thus, payments which are designed to reimburse the nurse for the
cost of travelling to the client's premises should be treated as
pay for the purposes of PAYE and Class 1 NICs. Subsistence payments
towards the cost of meals, accommodation etc at the place at which
the services are performed should be similarly treated.
For your information, you may wish to note that where the
nurse bears his/her own travelling expenses, no relief will be
allowed to the nurse for the cost of travelling from home to the
client's premises. However, relief will be allowed for the cost of
travelling from one client to another in the course of a day
provided that the nurse begins and ends the day at his/her own
home.
For the purposes of the treatment outlined above, a
qualified nurse should be regarded as any one falling within the
scope of Regulation 3 of the Nurses' Agencies Regulations 1961, or
anyone who has a nursing qualification which is recognised by the
UK Central Council for Nursing, Midwifery and Health Visiting
(UKCC).
If you require further clarification or have any doubts
about the need or otherwise to operate PAYE and account for Class 1
NICs on payments made to nurses, I will be happy to assist.'
