HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) are to discuss changes to the salary sacrifice and “making good” aspect of benefits-in-kind for both employers and employees.
The government are considering a move to limit the range of benefits-in-kind that attract income tax and national insurance contribution gains when provided as part of salary sacrifice arrangements.
Benefits in kind are benefits which employees or employers are given separately from their wage packet, often advertised as “perks” such as company cars and private medical insurance.
HMRC’s reports sets out to explore options of the salary sacrifice scheme, should the government decide to “change the way the benefits code applies when a benefit-in-kind is provided in conjunction with a salary sacrifice or flexible benefit scheme”.
The government consultation will “not prevent employers from providing benefits-in-kind to their employees through salary sacrifice, but it will remove the tax and NICs advantages that come from doing so”.
Certain health-focused benefits such as the cycle to work scheme, which the government wish to encourage, will not be changed.
“While the majority of employees are rewarded mainly with cash remuneration, the provision of benefits in kind is a long-standing component of reward packages”, said Jane Ellison MP, a financial secretary to the Treasury.
“The way in which benefits are provided has also evolved, with a growing market for flexible benefit packages, often combined with salary sacrifice arrangements. This growth represents an increasing cost to the Exchequer and creates an uneven playing field between employees and employers which use such arrangements and benefit from the tax advantages, and those that don’t.
“We want employers to continue to offer benefits to their employees, but need to balance this with the interests of all taxpayer”, she said.