How to best use of tax-free trivial benefits

The tax free trivial benefits exemption applies to small non-cash benefits, for example a bottle of wine or a bouquet of flowers, given occasionally to employees.

Although the benefit is defined as ‘trivial’, employers should remember that this can be an efficient way to provide small rewards and incentives to employees. As per HMRC guideline the main requirement is that the gifts are not provided as a reward for services performed or as part of the employees’ duties.

However, gifts to employees on milestone events such as the birth of a child or a marriage or other gestures of goodwill would usually qualify.

The employer also benefits as the trivial benefits do not have to be included on PAYE settlement agreements or disclosed on P11D forms. There is also a matching exemption from Class 1A National Insurance contributions.

There is no requirement to let HMRC know once the benefit meets the necessary criteria.

The tax exemption applies to trivial BiKs where the BiK:

  • is not cash or a cash-voucher; and
  • costs £50 or less; and
  • is not provided as part of a salary sacrifice or other contractual arrangement; and
  • is not provided in recognition of services performed by the employee as part of their employment, or in anticipation of such services.

The rules also allow directors or other office-holders of close companies and their families to benefit from an annual cap of £300. The £50 limit remains for each gift but could allow for up to £300 of non-cash benefits to be withdrawn per person per year.

The £300 cap doesn’t apply to other employees. If the £50 limit is exceeded for any gift, the total value of the benefit will be taxable.

If you are looking to know about tax free benefits, feel free to contact us.

Tax treatment of incentive award schemes

Companies use incentive award schemes to encourage their employees in various ways. For example, to sell more of their own goods and services. The award can be in various forms including cash, vouchers or other gifts.

Where an employer meets the tax payable on a non-cash incentive award given to a direct employee by entering into a PAYE settlement agreement (PSA), the award is not chargeable to tax on the employee.

With the exception of non-cash awards covered by a PSA, the incentive awards made to employees are chargeable as employment income. The value of these awards is calculated as follows:

Cash
The value to use is the total amount of cash awarded.

Vouchers
If the award consists of vouchers, then the value to use is the full cost to the provider of making the award.

Other gifts
If the award is something other than vouchers, then the charge is usually the full cost to the provider of making the award. There are certain exceptions for the very low paid.

There are also concessions which HMRC makes to enable you to say thank you to staff for specific areas including encouragement awards, suggestion schemes and awards to reward long service. 

Source: HM Revenue & Customs Tue, 31 Aug 2021 00:00:00 +0100

Exempt beneficial employee loans

An employee can obtain a benefit when provided with an employment-related cheap or interest-free loan. The benefit is the difference between the interest the employee pays, if any, and the commercial rate the employee would have to pay on a loan obtained elsewhere. These types of loans are referred to as beneficial loans.

There are scenarios where beneficial loans are exempt and employers might not have to report anything to HMRC or pay tax and National Insurance. The most common exemption relates to small loans with a combined outstanding value to an employee of less than £10,000 throughout the whole tax year.

The list also includes loans provided:

  • in the normal course of a domestic or family relationship as an individual (not as a company you control, even if you are the sole owner and employee)
  • to an employee for a fixed and invariable period, and at a fixed and invariable rate that was equal to or higher than HMRC’s official interest rate when the loan was taken out
  • under identical terms and conditions to the public as well (this mostly applies to commercial lenders)
  • that are ‘qualifying loans’, meaning all of the interest qualifies for tax relief
  • using a director’s loan account if it is not overdrawn at any time during the tax year.

HMRC’s official interest rate is currently 2%.

Source: HM Revenue & Customs Wed, 23 Jun 2021 00:00:00 +0100

Are you taking advantage of trivial benefits?

The trivial benefits in kind (BiK) exemption applies to small non-cash benefits like a bottle of wine or a bouquet of flowers given occasionally to employees. By taking advantage of the exemption employers can simplify the treatment of BiKs whilst at the same time offering a tax efficient way to give small gifts to employees.

Although the benefit is defined as ‘trivial’, employers should remember that this offers a great opportunity to give small rewards and incentives to employees. The main caveat being that the gifts are not provided as a reward for services performed or as part of the employees’ duties. However, gifts to employees on milestone events such as the birth of a child or a marriage or other gestures of goodwill would usually qualify.

The employer also benefits as the trivial benefits do not have to be included on PAYE settlement agreements or disclosed on P11D forms. There is also a matching exemption from Class 1A National Insurance contributions.

The tax exemption applies to trivial BiKs where the BiK:

  • is not cash or a cash-voucher; and
  • costs £50 or less; and
  • is not provided as part of a salary sacrifice or other contractual arrangement; and
  • is not provided in recognition of services performed by the employee as part of their employment, or in anticipation of such services.

The rules also allow directors or other officeholders of close companies and their families to benefit, but overall payments made in a tax year cannot exceed £300. The £50 limit remains for each gift but could allow for up to £300 of non-cash benefits to be withdrawn per person per year.  The £300 cap does not apply to employees. If the £50 limit is exceeded for any gift, the value of the benefit will be taxable.

Source: HM Revenue & Customs Wed, 16 Jun 2021 00:00:00 +0100

Changing Terms Of a Salary Sacrifice Arrangement

A salary sacrifice arrangement is effectively an agreement to reduce an employee’s entitlement to cash pay, usually in return for a non-cash benefit. This can include items such as company cars, childcare vouchers and additional employer pension contributions.

The tax and NIC advantages of certain benefits provided as part of a salary sacrifice arrangement were removed from 6 April 2017. The change effectively removed the Income Tax and employer NIC advantages of certain benefits provided as part of salary sacrifice arrangements such as mobile phones and workplace parking. There was a transitional plan in place for certain benefits until 6 April 2021.

If an employee wants to opt in or out of a salary sacrifice arrangements, the employer must alter their contract with each change. The employee’s contract must be clear on what their cash and non-cash entitlements are at any given time.

It may also be necessary to change the terms of a salary sacrifice arrangement where a lifestyle change significantly alters an employee’s financial circumstances.

This may include:

  • changes to circumstances directly arising as a result of coronavirus (COVID-19)
  • marriage
  • divorce
  • partner becoming redundant or pregnant

Salary sacrifice arrangements can allow opting in or out in the event of lifestyle changes like these.

Source: HM Revenue & Customs Wed, 28 Apr 2021 00:00:00 +0100

Annual Party Benefits

The cost of a staff party or other annual party entertainment is generally allowed as a deduction for tax purposes. If you meet the various criteria outlined below then there is no requirement to report anything to HMRC or pay tax and National Insurance. There will also be no taxable benefit charged to employees.

  1. An annual function offered to staff generally is not taxable on those attending provided that the average cost per head of the function does not exceed £150.
  2. The event must be open to all employees. If a business has multiple locations, then a party open to all staff at one of the locations is allowable. You can also have separate parties for separate departments, but employees must be able to attend one of the events.
  3. There can be more than one annual event. If the total cost of these parties is under £150 per head, then there is no chargeable benefit. However, if the total cost per head goes over £150 then whichever functions best utilise the £150 are exempt and the others taxable.
  4. It is not necessary to keep a running total by employee but a cost per head per function. All costs including VAT must be considered. This includes the costs of transport to and from the event, food and drink and any accommodation provided.

Note, the £150 is an exemption and not an allowance. This means that any costs over £150 per head are taxable on the full cost per head.

It is highly recommended when planning a staff party or other annual event to aim to stay within the parameters outlined above to ensure there is no additional tax cost to the party.

Source: HM Revenue & Customs Wed, 07 Apr 2021 00:00:00 +0100

Exempt Beneficial Loans

An employee can obtain a benefit when provided with an employment-related cheap or interest-free loan. The benefit is the difference between the interest the employee pays, if any, and the commercial rate the employee would have to pay on a loan obtained elsewhere. These types of loans are referred to as beneficial loans.

There are a number of scenarios where beneficial loans are exempt and employers might not have to report anything to HMRC or pay tax and National Insurance. The most common exemption relates to small loans with a combined outstanding value to an employee of less than £10,000 throughout the whole tax year.

The list also includes loans provided:

  • in the normal course of a domestic or family relationship as an individual (not as a company you control, even if you are the sole owner and employee)
  • to an employee for a fixed and invariable period, and at a fixed and invariable rate that was equal to or higher than HMRC’s official interest rate when the loan was taken out
  • under identical terms and conditions to the general public as well (this mostly applies to commercial lenders)
  • that are ‘qualifying loans’, meaning all of the interest qualifies for tax relief
  • using a director’s loan account as long as it’s not overdrawn at any time during the tax year.
Source: HM Revenue & Customs Wed, 07 Apr 2021 00:00:00 +0100

Tax Free Gifts For Staff On Christmas

Tax Free Gifts For Staff On Christmas. The employers who are looking to give their employees a small token of appreciation for Christmas, then their best option is probably to give them a gift tax free gifts. In order to ensure that this is not a taxable gift, it is important to that the trivial benefits in kind (BiK) rules apply.

If the gift doesn’t have a direct cash value then HMRC might accept it as a ‘trivial benefit’

The trivial benefits in kind (BiK) exemption applies to small non-cash benefits like a bottle of wine or a bouquet of flowers given to employees or any other benefit in kind classed as ‘trivial’ that falls within the exemption.

There is no tax to pay on trivial benefits in kind (BiK) provided to employees where all of the following apply:

https://www.gov.uk/expenses-and-benefits-trivial-benefits

  • the benefit is not cash or a cash-voucher; and
  • costs £50 or less; and
  • is not provided as part of a salary sacrifice or other contractual arrangement; and
  • is not provided in recognition of services performed by the employee as part of their employment, or in anticipation of such services.

So, for example a turkey that cost £45 would qualify as would a £15 bottle of wine. It is also possible to provide employees with a gift voucher (not a cash-voucher) where the value is £50 or less. It is important to remember that the gifts must not be provided in recognition of the employees’ services but merely as a gesture of goodwill at Christmas.

There is an annual cap for directors of a ‘close’ company of £300 per year. If the Christmas gifts have a value of over £50 or cannot be counted as a trivial benefit then the gift must be reported on form P11D and Class 1A NICs will be payable on the value of the gift.

If you are looking to know about it, feel free to contact us.

Gift / Bonus To Employee For Christmas

Gift / Bonus To Employee For Christmas

Most of the employers must be looking to give some sort of gifts / bonus to employee for Christmas. There are few gifts which are tax free and employers and employees could take benefit of these rules.

There is no tax to pay on trivial benefits in kind (BIK) provided to employees where all of the following apply:

  • the benefit is not cash or a cash-voucher; and
  • costs £50 or less; and
  • is not provided as part of a salary sacrifice or other contractual arrangement; and
  • is not provided in recognition of services performed by the employee as part of their employment, or in anticipation of such services.

https://www.gov.uk/expenses-and-benefits-trivial-benefits

Normally an employer would use trivial benefits in the following types of expenses:

Buying each employee, a Christmas present; or

Sending flowers.

Please have a look at our Tax planning page for basic advice.

So, for example a turkey that cost £45 would qualify as would a £15 bottle of wine. It is also possible to provide employees with a gift voucher (not a cash-voucher) where the value is £50 or less. It is important to remember that the gifts must not be provided in recognition of the employees’ services but merely as a gesture of goodwill at Christmas.

There is an annual cap for directors of a ‘close’ company of £300 per year. If the Christmas gifts have a value of over £50 or cannot be counted as a trivial benefit then the gift must be reported on form P11D and Class 1A NICs will be payable on the value of the gift.

 

If you are looking to know about this; feel free to contact us.

Using Your Own Vehicle For Work?

If you are an employee and use your own money to buy things you need for your job, then you can sometimes claim tax relief for the associated costs. It is usually only possible to claim tax relief for the cost of items used solely for your work. You may also be able to claim tax relief for using your own vehicle, be it a car, van, motorcycle or bike.

There is generally no tax relief for travel to and from your place of work. The rules are different for temporary workplaces where the expense is usually allowable and if you use your own vehicle to do other business-related mileage.

Employers usually make payments based on a set rate per mile depending on the mode of transport used. There are approved mileage rates published by HMRC. The approved mileage allowance payment rates are available where you use your own car on a business trip. Where the approved mileage rates are used, the payments to you are not regarded as a taxable benefit.

Where an employer pays less than the published rates, you can make a tax relief claim for the shortfall using mileage allowance relief. For all cars, the approved mileage allowance payment for the first 10,000 business miles is 45p per mile and 25p per mile for every additional business mile. The approved mileage rates are 20p per mile for bicycle travel and 24p per mile for motorcycle travel.

There is an additional passenger payment you can receive of 5p per passenger per business mile from your employer. This is available if you carry fellow employees in your car or van on journeys which are also work journeys for your colleagues.

Source: HM Revenue & Customs Wed, 19 Aug 2020 05:00:00 +0100
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