Employee benefits and tax
Employee benefits can give rise to a complicated tax and National Insurance (NI) considerations. You need to ensure that your payroll systems deal with employee benefits properly including completing P11D returns.
Various regulations have been introduced to reduce the tax advantages of employee benefits, ensuring that most of them are treated as taxable benefits. Even so, some employee benefits offer significant tax advantages.
Employee benefits and PAYE
Employee benefits are dealt with through the PAYE system, along with employees’ earnings. They way employee benefits are treated varies for different kind of benefits.
Employee benefits in the form of cash, such as bonuses and commissions, are taxable benefits treated in the same way as employee’s salary or wages. Special anti-avoidance rules apply to benefits that are readily convertible into cash, making these taxable benefits as well.
Employee benefits in kind can be treated differently, depending on the particular type of benefit. Some employee benefits are handled through the regular payroll, with tax and NI deducted at the time. Other taxable benefits are declared on the annual P11D.
Taxable benefits and tax efficient opportunities
Most employee benefits are taxable benefits. Details of benefits must be included on the P11D for company directors and for employees earning over £8,500 a year (including the value of any benefits).
However, there are several important tax planning opportunities. Employers’ pension contributions are not a taxable benefit. Other employee benefits with favourable tax or NI treatment include share schemes such as share incentive plans, some childcare benefits, various small gifts, some suggestion scheme awards and car parking facilities at work. Items needed for work such as uniforms or eye tests can also be non-taxable benefits. Employees’ business expenses can be repaid free of tax and NI, provided there are proper records and the employee is only being reimbursed, not making a profit. These reimbursed expenses need to be disclosed on the P11D return unless a dispensation is in place.
Because NI contributions are generally calculated on a weekly or monthly basis, employees may benefit if their incomes are variable, for example , if they receive lump sum bonuses in one particular month. If the bonus takes the employee’s earnings over the upper earning limit for that period – £805 per week, £3,489 per month, £41,865 per year in 2014/15 employee’s NI on the excess is only charged at 2% instead of 12%.
If an employee earns less than £8,500, a P11D doesn’t have to be completed. Instead, employee benefits are reported on a P9D and treated differently. For these lower-earning employees company cars and other significant benefits are not taxable benefits. But remember the earnings plus the benefits must be less than £8,500 for the benefits not to be taxable.
Tax efficient benefits for owners and directors
Additional rules exist to help prevent company directors taking advantage of tax planning opportunities. In particular company directors’ NI contributions are based on annual earnings as opposed to weekly or monthly calculations. So there is no advantage to taking bonus payments rather than regular income. P11Ds must be completed for company directors if they receive any benefits, even if their earnings are below £8,500.
Directors cans still take advantage of non-taxable benefits such as employers’ pension contributions.
Company owners may, however, be able to take advantage of broader tax planning opportunities such as employing their spouse, taking payment in dividends and benefiting from Entrepreneurs’ Relief on capital gains.