goodmanjones-staff-party-hmrc-allowance

Are your thoughts turning to those lazy hazy summer days and organising a social event for your staff? Or perhaps you are super organised and already thinking about the office Christmas party. Whichever it may be, don’t forget the tax man will have something to say about it. I’m not sure who the summer equivalent of Scrooge is, but there is a limit to HMRC’s generosity in allowing businesses to lavish hospitality on their staff.

That limit is £150 per head per tax year and hasn’t changed in 14 years so is worth approximately £75 less than it was in 2002.

Provided the cost of an annual staff function is less than £150 per head there is no tax consequence, but exceed the limit then the whole of the cost per head of the function is a taxable benefit in kind for each employee attending.

It should be noted that the £150 limit is the cost per head and not per member of staff attending so other guests can be included in the head count. The limit can be applied to more than one function so can cover both a summer and a Christmas party.

The exemption does not apply to all staff entertaining. For a function to fall within the exemption it needs to be an annual event open to all staff to attend. Strictly an annual event should be one that is held annually, but in my experience HMRC interpret this fairly loosely and will allow events for special one off occasions as well.  If your business has more than one location, an annual event that’s open to all of your staff based at one location still counts as exempt. You can also put on separate parties for different departments, as long as all of your employees can attend one of them.

Where the limit is exceeded or there are staff entertaining costs which are not covered by the exemption it is common for businesses to arrange a PSA (PAYE settlement agreement) with HMRC to pay any tax which would otherwise be payable by the individual staff members. A PSA is fairly easy to arrange and the tax won’t be payable until 6 months after the end of the tax year so you can enjoy your party and worry about the tax bill a lot later!

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The information in this article was correct at the date it was first published.

However it is of a generic nature and cannot constitute advice. Specific advice should be sought before any action taken.

If you would like to discuss how this applies to you, we would be delighted to talk to you. Please make contact with the author on the details shown below.

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Richard Verge - Tax Director

E: rverge@goodmanjones.com

T: +44 (0)20 7874 8856

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Richard is a personal tax expert and is able to advise high net worth individuals on either immediate tax concerns or a long term plan to ensure that their affairs are structured to take advantage of the tax reliefs available.

His experience from working with HMRC ensures that he is more than adept at understanding the view from the other side, to the benefit of his clients. Richard advises entrepreneurs, owners of family businesses and partners in professional practices and provides advice on planning from both a personal and worklife perspective.

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