Happy, Special Occasion – Trivial Benefits

There will be special occasions at work  when Employers provide expenses or benefits to employees and directors.

Examples of what you can do to treat yourself and your employees are as follows:

Providing it is not cash, the gift itself could be anything, providing the cost is below £50 per head.

For example; store gift cards, flowers, chocolates, wine, hampers and dining the staff.

The following conditions must be adhered to in order to be able to provide tax-free trivial benefits.

The benefit must not

• Exceed £50 (this applies to each time you provide a trivial benefit)
• Be a cash payment (gift vouchers are allowed, providing they can’t be exchanged for cash)
• Be part of any contractual obligation (You must not say here is a bottle of champagne because you did so well last month, but you are allowed to say here is a bottle of Champagne as I am in a good mood)
• Pay for services that are performed as part of regular employment duties

Please make sure that you do not go a penny over £50 as the full value of the benefit will be taxable.

You can’t receive trivial benefits worth more than £300 in a tax year if you’re the director of a close company.  A close company is a limited company that’s run by 5 or fewer shareholders.

Please note that if you provide trivial benefits as part of a salary sacrifice arrangement they won’t be exempt.  You’ll need to report on form P11D whichever amount is higher:

Remember , these trivial benefits are in addition to the annual staff entertaining allowance of up to £150 per anumm, per attendee and therefore will help increase morale, whilst reducing your corporation tax liability.  So what are you waiting for treat yourself the weekend.