The Not so 'Trivial' Benefits Exemption
Tax-free Trivial Benefits
A little known and underused tax free perk is the trivial benefits exemption.
A benefit provided to an employee is classed as a trivial benefit and therefore tax free for not only them, but a tax deduction for the employer too, provided that;
- It is less than £50, if given as a voucher it is non cash transferable,
- It is NOT a reward for services,
- And, it isn't included in the terms of an employee’s contract.
Examples
Trivial benefits could include, a gift voucher, a bunch of flowers, a meal out for employees under £50 per head.
To avoid the reward for service rule, the benefits could be given for a birthday, or a turkey or bottle of wine at Christmas, the birth of a child or a bereavement.
There is no limit to employees!
HMRC’s legislation does not state how many times per year you can give a trivial benefit to your employees. But be wise! Obviously a £50 gift every working day of the year would ring HMRC's alarm bells so we would advise that any trivial benefits made in the year are made as a gesture rather than a frequent payment.
Does this apply to company directors too?
Yes it does! To limit company directors taking advantage of this tax freebie, HMRC will allow trivial benefits provided to directors up to a value of £300 per year. So that’s a payment up to £50 once every two months. If your spouse is also a director that is another saving of £300 and a potential tax saving of £335 if both higher rate tax payers!
For more information on trivial benefits and other tax saving opportunities, contact Cooper Curtis on 0845 303 1144 or email info@coopercurtis.co.uk
POST BY CAROLINE
Please note, all our content is for general guideline only, every case is different and we would recommend speaking to us before taking any action as a result of the content. The content was correct at the time it was published.