4 ms·

When? Food and drink are considered non-taxable benefits according to HMRC: http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/payerti/employee/changes/new-benefit.htm http://www.hmrc.gov

When? Food and drink are considered non-taxable benefits according to HMRC: http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/payerti/employee/changes/new-benefit.htm http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/payerti/employee/changes/new-benefit.... It's always been non-taxable as far as I can remember and a quick google is not bringing anything up.

pbhjpbhj 13y ago
I think you might be confusing the fact that [non luxury] food and drink are [generally] zero-rated for VAT purposes with the assessment of a value for food and drink provided as a "benefit in kind" for income tax and NICs purposes. That said the online guidance on what counts as a trivial benefit, http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/manuals/eimanual/EIM21863.htm http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/manuals/eimanual/EIM21863.htm, says: >"Tea and coffee >An employer may provide its employees with access in the workplace to tea, coffee or water from a cooling dispenser. If this refreshment is available generally to all employees, the benefit is exempt from charge (EIM21670). If the exemption does not apply, you should accept that these refreshments represent a trivial benefit." // But it very much depends on how the benefit is provided, voucher schemes work differently and there is an assessment of the value of the benefit involved. Other references: http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/paye/exb/a-z/a/ http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/paye/exb/a-z/a/ http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/paye/exb/a-z/m/meals.htm http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/paye/exb/a-z/m/meals.htm
- mattmanser 13y ago
  No, I'm not confusing anything, I'm not talking about VAT at all. I'm talking about the pretty explicit guidance on the page I linked. And rather ironically on the pages you linked. No income tax to pay on the benefit. Read the parent I replied to. He was claiming HMRC was trying to get BT to charge income tax for a benefit of tea and coffee. I challenged it because I was interested if this was ever true and also it's never good to let rumours like this to exist, the UK is a great place to start a business and misinformation like this shouldn't go unchallenged.
  - pbhjpbhj 13y ago
    >He was claiming HMRC was trying to get BT to charge income tax for a benefit of tea and coffee. // The page I linked says that it's not normally the case. But it's clear in the guidance that a not unusual construction of such a scheme, eg using vouchers and an external provider, would make it that tax/NICs were due on the hot-drinks a a benefit-in-kind. It's not provably misinformation but it is deficient and doesn't demonstrate the verity of the claim.

pbhjpbhj 13y ago

I think you might be confusing the fact that [non luxury] food and drink are [generally] zero-rated for VAT purposes with the assessment of a value for food and drink provided as a "benefit in kind" for income tax and NICs purposes. That said the online guidance on what counts as a trivial benefit, http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/manuals/eimanual/EIM21863.htm http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/manuals/eimanual/EIM21863.htm, says: >"Tea and coffee >An employer may provide its employees with access in the workplace to tea, coffee or water from a cooling dispenser. If this refreshment is available generally to all employees, the benefit is exempt from charge (EIM21670). If the exemption does not apply, you should accept that these refreshments represent a trivial benefit." // But it very much depends on how the benefit is provided, voucher schemes work differently and there is an assessment of the value of the benefit involved. Other references: http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/paye/exb/a-z/a/ http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/paye/exb/a-z/a/ http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/paye/exb/a-z/m/meals.htm http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/paye/exb/a-z/m/meals.htm

mattmanser 13y ago
No, I'm not confusing anything, I'm not talking about VAT at all. I'm talking about the pretty explicit guidance on the page I linked. And rather ironically on the pages you linked. No income tax to pay on the benefit. Read the parent I replied to. He was claiming HMRC was trying to get BT to charge income tax for a benefit of tea and coffee. I challenged it because I was interested if this was ever true and also it's never good to let rumours like this to exist, the UK is a great place to start a business and misinformation like this shouldn't go unchallenged.
- pbhjpbhj 13y ago
  >He was claiming HMRC was trying to get BT to charge income tax for a benefit of tea and coffee. // The page I linked says that it's not normally the case. But it's clear in the guidance that a not unusual construction of such a scheme, eg using vouchers and an external provider, would make it that tax/NICs were due on the hot-drinks a a benefit-in-kind. It's not provably misinformation but it is deficient and doesn't demonstrate the verity of the claim.