Taxis - Late Night
TAXIS - LATE NIGHT The provision of a taxi paid for by an employer for a work to home journey is in general terms a taxable benefit. However, an exemption applies where all the following conditions are met: • the employee is required to work later than usual and at least until 9 pm • that the occurrence of the late night working is irregular – e.g. not part of any scheduled working pattern, i.e. annually • that by the time their work finishes public transport has ceased or it would be unreasonable (see below) to expect the employee to use public transport. It is the responsibility of the employer to maintain adequate records to show that provision meets these requirements. HMRC will not accept that an exemption may apply solely on the grounds that the employee: • has to travel home in the dark • has a long working day and as a result is tired • has a heavy briefcase, laptop computer, etc to take home • travels by public transport to an unmanned station. COPYRIGHT © 2021 THE CHARTERED INSTITUTE OF PAYROLL PROFESSIONALS Where a journey includes more than one form of public transport, the cessation of any one of those portions of the journey would justify the unreasonableness. Provision shall not exceed 60 occasions per annum, which does not imply that the first 60 such journeys per year are exempt, rather that the number of qualifying journeys shall not exceed 60 in total per year. For compliance purposes the importance of record keeping cannot be underestimated. In 2016 HMRC indicated that because of continued abuse of the concession they are mindful to withdraw it. No date has been given for this at time of publication. TELEPHONES - HOME Where the employee is the subscriber named in the telephone account, the employee must meet the full cost of the rental and private calls. A chargeable benefit will otherwise accrue. Where the employer is the subscriber, in general terms there is no chargeable benefit if private use is insignificant. When private use is significant, the employee must meet the cost of private calls, and a proportion of the rental otherwise there is a chargeable benefit. See also mobile phones below. TELEPHONES - MOBILE Prior to 6th April 1999 a scale charge of £200 per year, or part of a year, was assessable to tax for the provision of a mobile phone. Where the employee had no private calls, or the cost was made good including a proportion of the capital cost and standing charges, no assessable benefit accrued. No printing, copying or reproduction permitted. From 6th April 2006 the provision of one mobile phone* for private use by the employer to an employee (not the employee’s family or household member) including the payment of the provision rental and cost of calls by the employer is tax-free. Payments made to employees
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