46% of employers provide no seasonal gift 7 December 2018
The CIPP’s latest festive poll reveals that of the 54% of employers who do provide a seasonal gift, 65% provide a Christmas party or other experience as opposed to a tangible reward.
In our latest series of polls, we asked what you will be expecting from your employer this Christmas and of the 291 responses received though our website quick poll, 133 (46%) said that they would be expecting nothing. Like all our polls we don’t know the reasons behind this statistic, so it is not necessarily a negative result. Our quick polls just provide options, so it may well be that employees are provided with say an afternoon off to do Christmas shopping or an early closure on Christmas eve. Some business may even close down between Christmas and New Year, providing employees with a decent break, despite the possible loss of revenue? Only an in-depth survey would drill down into these kind of details (watch out for one in 2019), so one cannot assume that these employers are akin to ‘Ebenezer Scrooge’. It is encouraging to see that the traditional gifts such as food and drink, possibly in the form of a hamper or turkey are still provided (10% in total). Cash and non-cash vouchers pulled in an equal response with 4% each receiving these gifts, but the top gift is still the Christmas party or other festive experience (65%). HMRC are running a short webinar on 19 December and 8 February for employers which covers the tax and National Insurance treatment of providing employees with social functions such as an annual party. Find out what you need to report and when. Choose a date and time
Take a moment if you haven’t already to answer our latest poll (to the right of this, and every, news item) on how your employer will process the value of your seasonal gift – if of course you are fortunate enough to receive one.
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Nearly half of employers using trivial benefit rules for festive gifts 17 December 2018
In our penultimate festive poll we asked how your employer will process the value of your seasonal gift? Tax savvy employers lead the way with 48% of relevant respondents ensuring that this generosity falls within the trivial benefit rules. Prior to April 2016, there was no statutory limit below which benefits would not be taxable and so this subject has been the cause of many a debate between the employer and their adviser and HMRC for many years. The news that HMRC had accepted the recommendation from the Office of Tax simplification (OTS), in a bid to increase administrative simplicity, was indeed welcome.
For a gift, or token, to be considered a trivial benefit however it must meet certain criteria: • It must cost £50 or less to provide
• It must not be cash or a voucher that can be exchanged for cash • It must not be a reward for the work or performance of an employee • it must not be given as a result of contractual entitlement.
Gifts, and not just the ones given at Christmas, are limited only by the imagination of the HR team but increasingly are becoming more imaginative than a turkey or bottle of wine. The final cost to a large employer may be significant, but as long as the criteria are met for each employee, the principle will apply regardless of the final cost.
Be mindful that accurate records which evidence that the criteria have been met, must be maintained.
The Chartered Institute of Payroll Professionals
Payroll: need to know
cipp.org.uk
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