30.03.17 Consultation on the taxation of employee expenses – call for evidence

A call for evidence has been published by the government, following the announcement at the Spring Budget 2017, which aims to better understand the use of the income tax relief for employees’ business expenses, including those which are not reimbursed by the employer.

The main objectives which the call for evidence is seeking to understand, are as follows; -

• To see whether current rules or their administration could be clearer and simpler
• To see whether the tax rules for expenses are fit for purpose in the modern economy
• To analyse why the cost to the exchequer of the tax relief for expenses which are not reimbursed has increased

The call for evidence is requesting views in relation to the current practices which employers have in place in regards for employee expenses, the current tax rules on expenses and the future of these.

The government has set out 17 questions in this consultation which cover how expenses affect the employer, how they reflect on modern working practices, how employees go about claiming tax relief and the future of employee expenses. The government aims to collect information on all of these sections in order to ensure that the taxation of expenses is kept up to date with the modern labour market.

The call for evidence was opened on the 20 March 2017 and will be accepting responses up until the 12 June 2017. Once the deadline has passed the responses will be used to help to inform future policy developments. 

Shortly, Aspire will be compiling and sending a response detailing our thoughts in relation to the consultation and the questions asked within. 

Read the full call for evidence, here.