Introduction to Income Tax and NICs Deductions
3.3.2 ‘Free of tax’ deductions
‘ F ree of tax’ mean s that the deduction serves to reduce the amount that income tax is calculated on.
The recovery of an overpayment of earnings from gross pay will reduce the amount that income tax (and NICs, attachment orders and so on) is calculated on.
There are two common deductions that often affect the tax calculations by reducing the ‘taxable pay’ before tax is calculated. (Although the step of actually deducting them from post-tax pay is carried out later in the payroll calculation.)
These two deductions are:
• T he employee’s donations to charity through a Payroll Giving scheme that has been approved by HMRC • T he employee’s contributions to a pension scheme that operates the Net Pay Arrangement (NPA) for tax relief (both regular contributions and Additional Voluntary Contributions).
Note that there is no statutory limit to the amount that an employee can contribute tax-free into a charitable Payroll Giving scheme.
There is a statutory limit to the amount of pension contributions that an individual can put into pension schemes in a tax year and get tax relief on, which is known as the annual allowance. Tax relief is available at an individual’s marginal rate. The annual allowance level is currently £40,000 and any unused allowance can be carried over for up to three tax years. From 6 April 2016, high income earners may have a reduced annual allowance. The amount of tax relief available may also be restricted.
Pension contributions that attract tax relief also have a lifetime allowance cap, which is currently £1,073,100 (with various exceptions).
There is another type of ‘free of tax’ deduction that is occasionally encountered. This occurs where the employee enters into a Share Incentive Plan (SIP) that has approval from HMRC. In essence, the employee gives up salary to buy shares in their company. The effect is that the gross pay is reduced before the tax (and NICs) is calculated.
3.3.3 ‘Free of NICs’ deductions
Other than deductions in respect of Share Incentive Plans and recovery of overpayments, there is no deduction that affects the pay on which NICs are to be calculated.
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