The Jonathan Ford & Co Advent Calendar – Day 7
Over the course of the festive season we’ll be bringing you an advent calendar’s worth of tax and financial tips. Some of them might even be a little Christmassy! On the 7th day of advent, it’s time to give a little gift with…
(Not so) trivial benefits
Christmas is a time for giving and, somewhat unbelievably, you can provide gifts to your employees (and to yourself) free of tax.
In a rare outbreak of generosity at HMRC, you can provide gifts of up to £50 (including VAT) in value without the employee paying tax on the gift. Such gifts are known as trivial benefits and can include goods, services and vouchers that can be exchanged for goods or services.
Gifts, even if relatively small, are a great way of telling staff that you appreciate them and they can provide a boost to wellbeing and morale.
Furthermore, your company can claim tax relief on the gift.
There are, as always, some pitfalls to avoid:
- Trivial benefits only apply to limited companies
- The gift cannot be provided in recognition of performance at work
- The employee cannot give up salary in exchange for the gift
- Vouchers cannot be exchangeable for cash
- Directors of limited companies are subject to an annual cap of £300 each
