(1) No liability to income tax arises in respect of the provision of workplace parking for an employee.
(2) No liability to income tax arises by virtue of the payment or reimbursement of expenses incurred in connection with the provision for or the use by an employee of workplace parking.
(3) In this section “workplace parking” means—
(a) a parking space for a car or van,
(b) a motor cycle parking space, or
(c) facilities for parking a cycle other than a motor cycle,
at or near the employee’s workplace.
(1) No liability to income tax arises in respect of the provision, at or near an employee's workplace, of facilities for charging a battery of a vehicle used by the employee (including a vehicle used by the employee as a passenger).
(2) Subsection (1) applies only if the facilities are made available generally to the employer's employees at that workplace.
(3) In this section—
“facilities”—
includes electricity, but
does not include workplace parking,
“taxable”, in relation to a car or van, has the meaning given by section 239(6),
“vehicle” means a vehicle—
to which Chapter 2 applies (see section 235), and
which is neither a taxable car nor a taxable van, and
“workplace parking” has the meaning given by section 237(3).
(1) No liability to income tax arises where a heavy goods vehicle is made available to an employee for the employee’s private use if conditions A and B are met.
(2) Condition A is that there is no transfer of the property in the vehicle to the employee.
(3) Condition B is that the employee’s use of the vehicle in the tax year is not wholly or mainly private use.
(4) In this section—
“heavy goods vehicle” means a mechanically propelled road vehicle which—
is of a construction primarily suited for the conveyance of goods or burden of any kind, and
is designed or adapted to have a maximum weight exceeding 3,500 kilograms when in normal use and travelling on a road laden, and
“private use” means use other than for travel which the employee is necessarily obliged to do in the performance of the duties of the employment.
239 Payments and benefits connected with taxable cars and vans and exempt heavy goods vehicles
(1) No liability to income tax arises in respect of the discharge of any liability of an employee in connection with a taxable car or van or an exempt heavy goods vehicle.
(2) No liability to income tax arises in respect of a payment to an employee in respect of expenses incurred by the employee in connection with a taxable car or van or an exempt heavy goods vehicle.
(3) Subsections (1) and (2) do not apply to liability arising by virtue of section 120A (optional remuneration arrangements: benefit of a car), section 149 or 149A (benefit of car fuel treated as earnings) , section 154A (optional remuneration arrangements: benefit of a van) or section 160 or 160A (benefit of van fuel treated as earnings).
(4) No liability to income tax arises by virtue of Chapter 10 of Part 3 (taxable benefits: residual liability to charge) in respect of a benefit connected with a taxable car or van or an exempt heavy goods vehicle.
(5) Subsection (4) does not apply to the provision of a driver.
(6) For the purposes of this section a car or van is “taxable” if under Chapter 6 of Part 3 an amount (whether the cash equivalent or the relevant amount) in respect of the benefit of it is to be treated as the employee’s earnings for the tax year.
(7) For the purposes of this section—
(a) “heavy goods vehicle” has the same meaning as in section 238(4) (modest private use of heavy goods vehicles), and
(b) a heavy goods vehicle is “exempt” if it is made available in the tax year to the employee in such circumstances that section 238 applies.
(8) For the purposes of subsections (1) and (2), a heavy goods vehicle is also “exempt” if it is so made available in such circumstances that section 238 would apply if the employee were not in lower-paid employment as a minister of religion (see section 290D).
(9) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
(1) No liability to income tax arises in respect of a sum if or to the extent that it is paid wholly and exclusively for the purpose of paying or reimbursing expenses which—
(a) are incidental to the employee’s absence from the place where the employee normally lives,
(b) relate to a continuous period of such absence in relation to which the overnight stay conditions are met (a “qualifying period”), and
(c) would not be deductible under Part 5 if the employee incurred and paid them and Chapter 2 of this Part (mileage allowances and passenger payments) did not apply.
(2) No liability to income tax arises by virtue of Chapter 10 of Part 3 (taxable benefits: residual liability to charge) in respect of a benefit provided for an employee if—
(a) its provision is incidental to such an absence during a qualifying period, and
(b) no amount would be deductible in respect of it under Part 5.
(3) Subsections (1) and (2) are subject to section 241 (incidental overnight expenses and benefits: overall exemption limit).
(4) The overnight stay conditions are that—
(a) the employee is obliged to stay away from the place where the employee normally lives throughout the period,
(b) the period includes at least one overnight stay away from that place, and
(c) each such overnight stay during the period is at a place the expenses of travelling to which meet condition A or B.
(5) Condition A is that the expenses are deductible under Part 5 (otherwise than under any of the excepted foreign travel provisions) or would be if the employee incurred and paid them and Chapter 2 of this Part did not apply.
(6) Condition B is that the expenses are within section 250 or 255 (exemption of work-related and individual learning account training provision) or would be if the employer paid or reimbursed them.
(7) In this section “excepted foreign travel provisions” means—
(a) section 371 (travel costs and expenses where duties performed abroad: visiting spouse’s civil partner's or child’s travel),
(b) section 374 (non-domiciled employee’s spouse’s civil partner's or child’s travel costs and expenses where duties performed in UK), and
(c) section 376 (foreign accommodation and subsistence costs and expenses (overseas employments)).
241 Incidental overnight expenses and benefits: overall exemption limit
(1) Section 240(1) and (2) do not apply if the exemption provisions total in respect of the qualifying period in question exceeds the permitted amount.
(2) In this section “the exemption provisions total”, in respect of a period, means the aggregate of—
(a) the amounts that would be exempted under section 240(1) and (2) in respect of the period, apart from this section, and
(b) the amounts that would be exempted under section 268 (exemption of vouchers and tokens for incidental overnight expenses) in respect of the period, apart from the condition in section 268(5).
(3) In this section “the permitted amount”, in respect of a period, means the aggregate of the following amounts—
(a) £5 for each night during the period spent wholly in the United Kingdom, and
(b) £10 for each night during the period spent wholly or partly outside the United Kingdom.
241A Travel by unpaid directors of not-for-profit companies
(1) No liability to income tax arises in respect of a sum if or to the extent that it is paid wholly and exclusively for the purpose of paying or reimbursing travel expenses in respect of which conditions A to C are met.
(2) Condition A is that—
(a) the employee is obliged to incur the expenses as holder of the employment, and
(b) the expenses are attributable to the employee’s necessary attendance at any place in the performance of the duties of the employment.
(3) Condition B is that the employment is employment as a director of a not-for-profit company.
(4) Condition C is that the employment is one from which the employee receives no employment income other than sums to which Chapter 3 of Part 3 applies (expenses payments).
(5) In this section—
(a) “director” has the same meaning as in the benefits code (see section 67), and
(b) “not-for-profit company” means a company that does not carry on activities for the purpose of making profits for distribution to its members or others.
241B Travel where directorship held as part of trade or profession
(1) No liability to income tax arises in respect of a sum if or to the extent that it is paid wholly and exclusively for the purpose of paying or reimbursing travel expenses in respect of which conditions A to D are met.
(2) Condition A is that the employee is obliged to incur the expenses as holder of the employment.
(3) Condition B is that the employment is employment as a director of a company.
(4) Condition C is that the employee carries on a trade, profession or vocation (alone or in partnership).
(5) Condition D is that, in calculating the profits of that trade, profession or vocation for income tax purposes, a deduction is allowed under ITTOIA 2005 for the expenses, but no such deduction is to be made.
(6) In this section “director” has the same meaning as in the benefits code (see section 67).
(1) No liability to income tax arises in respect of the provision for employees of a works transport service if—
(a) the service is available generally to employees of the employer (or each employer) concerned,
(b) the main use of the service is for qualifying journeys by those employees, and
(c) the service—
(i) is used only by the employees for whom it is provided or their children, or
(ii) is substantially used only by those employees or children.
(2) In this section—
“children” includes stepchildren and illegitimate children but does not include children aged 18 or over, and
“works transport service” means a service which is provided by means of a bus or a minibus for conveying employees of one or more employers on qualifying journeys.
(3) For the purposes of this section—
(a) “bus” means a road passenger vehicle which has a seating capacity of 12 or more, and
(b) “minibus” means a vehicle constructed or adapted for the carriage of passengers which has a seating capacity of 9, 10 or 11.
(4) But a vehicle which falls within the definition in subsection (3)(b) is not a minibus for the purposes of this section if—
(a) it has one or more disqualified seats, and
(b) excluding the disqualified seats, it has a seating capacity of 8 or less.
(5) For the purposes of subsections (3) and (4) the seating capacity of a vehicle is determined in the same way as for the purposes of Part 3 of Schedule 1 to VERA 1994 (vehicle excise duty on buses).
This applies whether or not the vehicle is a bus within the meaning of that Part of that Schedule.
(6) For the purposes of subsection (4) a seat is disqualified if relevant construction and use requirements are not met in relation to it.
In this subsection “construction and use requirements” has the same meaning as in Part 2 of the Road Traffic Act 1988 (c. 52) or, in Northern Ireland, Part III of the Road Traffic (Northern Ireland) Order 1995 (S.I. 1995/2994 (N.I. 18)).
(1) No liability to income tax arises in respect of the provision of financial or other support for a public transport road service if—
(a) in the case of a local bus service, conditions A and B are met, or
(b) in any other case, conditions A to C are met.
(2) Condition A is that the service is used by employees of one or more employers for qualifying journeys.
(3) Condition B is that the service is available generally to employees of the employer (or each employer) concerned.
(4) Condition C is that the terms on which the service is available to the employees of the employer (or each employer) concerned are not more favourable than those available to other passengers.
(5) In this section—
“local bus service” means a local service (as defined in section 2 of the Transport Act 1985 (c. 67)), and
“public transport road service” means a public passenger transport service provided by means of a road vehicle.
(1) No liability to income tax arises in respect of the provision for an employee of a cycle or cyclist’s safety equipment if conditions A to C are met.
(2) Condition A is that there is no transfer of the property in the cycle or equipment in question.
(3) Condition B is that the employee uses the cycle or equipment in question mainly for qualifying journeys.
(4) Condition C is that cycles are available generally to employees of the employer concerned or, as the case may be, cyclist’s safety equipment is so available to them.
(5) In this section “cycle” has the meaning given by section 192(1) of the Road Traffic Act 1988 (c. 52), and “cyclist” has a corresponding meaning.
245 Travelling and subsistence during public transport strikes
(1) No liability to income tax arises in respect of the following benefits and payments where a strike or other industrial action disrupts a public transport service normally used by an employee.
(2) They are—
(a) the provision for the employee of overnight accommodation at or near the employee’s permanent workplace,
(b) a payment to the employee in respect of expenses incurred by the employee in connection with such accommodation,
(c) the provision for the employee of transport for the purpose of ordinary commuting or travel between any two places that is for practical purposes substantially ordinary commuting, and
(d) a payment to the employee in respect of expenses incurred on such transport.
246 Transport between work and home for disabled employees: general
(1) No liability to income tax arises in respect of—
(a) the provision of transport for a disabled employee, or
(b) the payment or reimbursement of expenses incurred on such transport,
if the condition in subsection (2) is met.
(2) The condition is that the transport is provided or the expenses are incurred for the purpose of ordinary commuting or travel between any two places that is for practical purposes substantially ordinary commuting.
(3) Subsection (1) does not apply in a case where a car is made available to a disabled employee (but see section 247).
(4) In this section “disabled employee” means an employee who has a physical or mental impairment with a substantial and long-term adverse effect on the employee’s ability to carry out normal day to day activities.
(1) This section applies where a car is made available to a disabled employee without any transfer of the property in it.
(2) No liability to income tax arises by virtue of Chapter 6 or 10 of Part 3 (taxable benefits: cars, vans etc. and residual liability to charge) in respect of the benefit if conditions A to C are met.
(3) No liability to income tax arises in respect of—
(a) the provision of fuel for the car, or
(b) the payment or reimbursement of expenses incurred in connection with it,
if conditions A to C are met.
(4) Condition A is that the car has been adapted for the employee’s special needs or, in the case of an employee who because of disability can only drive a car that has automatic transmission, it is such a car.
(5) Condition B is that the car is made available on terms prohibiting its use otherwise than for—
(a) the employee’s business travel, or
(b) transport for the employee for the purpose of—
(i) ordinary commuting or travel between any two places that is for practical purposes substantially ordinary commuting, or
(ii) travel to a place the expenses of travelling to which would be within one of the training exemption provisions if the employer paid them.
(6) Condition C is that in the tax year the car is only used in accordance with those terms.
(7) In this section—
“business travel” has the same meaning as in Chapter 6 of Part 3 (taxable benefits: cars, vans and related benefits) (see section 171(1)),
“disabled employee” has the same meaning as in section 246 (see subsection (4)), and
“the training exemption provisions” means—
section 250 (exemption of work-related training provision),
section 255 (exemption for contributions to individual learning account training), and
section 311 (retraining courses).
(8) Section 138(4) (when a car has automatic transmission) applies for the purposes of this section as it applies for the purposes of section 138.
248 Transport home: late night working and failure of car-sharing arrangements
(1) No liability to income tax arises in respect of the provision of transport or the payment or reimbursement of expenses incurred on transport if—
(a) the transport is for a journey from the employee’s workplace to the employee’s home,
(b) the late working conditions or the car-sharing failure conditions are met, and
(c) the number of previous occasions in the tax year on which the provision of transport within this section or the payment or reimbursement of expenses within this section has occurred is lower than 60.
(2) The late working conditions are that—
(a) the journey is made on an occasion when the employee is required to work later than usual and until at least 9 p.m.,
(b) such occasions occur irregularly,
(c) by the time when the employee ceases work—
(i) public transport has ceased to be available for the journey, or
(ii) it would not be reasonable to expect the employee to use it, and
(d) the transport is by taxi or similar private road transport.
(3) The car-sharing failure conditions are that—
(a) the employee regularly travels to work in a car with one or more other employees of the employee’s employer under arrangements for the sharing of the car with them, and
(b) the journey is made on an occasion when the employee is unable to use the car because of unforeseen and exceptional circumstances.
(1) This section applies where—
(a) an emergency vehicle is made available to a person employed in an emergency service mainly for use for the person's business travel ,
(b) the terms on which it is made available prohibit its private use otherwise than when the person is on call or ... commuting, and
(c) the person does not make private use of it otherwise than in such circumstances.
(2) No liability to income tax arises by virtue of Chapter 6 or 10 of Part 3 (taxable benefits: cars, vans etc. and residual liability to charge) in respect of the benefit.
(3) “Emergency vehicle” means a vehicle which is used to respond to emergencies and which either—
(a) has fixed to it a lamp designed to emit a flashing light for use in emergencies, or
(b) would have such a lamp fixed to it but for the fact that (if it did) a special threat to the personal physical security of those using it would arise by reason of it being apparent that they were employed in an emergency service.
(4) The following are “employed in an emergency service”—
(a) constables and other persons employed for police purposes,
(b) persons employed for the purposes of a fire, or fire and rescue, service, and
(c) persons employed in the provision of ambulance or paramedic services.
(5) The Treasury may by order amend subsection (4).
(6) “Private use”, in relation to a person, means any use other than for the person’s business travel; and “business travel” has the same meaning as in Chapter 6 of Part 3 (see section 171(1)).
(7) A person to whom an emergency vehicle is made available is on call when liable, as part of normal duties, to be called on to use the emergency vehicle to respond to emergencies.
(8) A person to whom an emergency vehicle is made available is ... commuting when the person—
(a) is using the vehicle for ordinary commuting or for travel between two places that is for practical purposes substantially ordinary commuting, and
(b) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
In this Chapter—
“car” and “van” have the same meaning as in Chapter 6 of Part 3 (taxable benefits: cars, vans and related benefits) (see section 115), except that for the purposes of sections 246 and 247 (transport for the disabled) any adaptation of a car for the employee’s special needs is to be disregarded,
“ordinary commuting” has the same meaning as in section 338 (travel for necessary attendance) (see subsection (3)),
“qualifying journey”, in relation to an employee, means the whole or part of a journey—
between the employee’s home and workplace,
between one workplace and another,
in connection with the performance of the duties of the employment, and
“workplace” and “permanent workplace” have the meaning given by section 339.
(1) No liability to income tax arises by virtue of—
(a) the provision for an employee of work-related training or any benefit incidental to such training, or
(b) the payment or reimbursement to or in respect of an employee of—
(i) the cost of work-related training or of any benefit incidental to such training, or
(ii) any costs of a kind specified in subsection (2) in respect of such training.
(2) The costs are—
(a) costs which are incidental to the employee undertaking the training,
(b) expenses incurred in connection with an examination or other assessment of what the employee has gained from the training, and
(c) the cost of obtaining any qualification, registration or award to which the employee becomes or may become entitled as a result of the training or such an examination or other assessment.
(1) In this Chapter “work-related training”, in relation to an employee, means a training course or other activity designed to impart, instil, improve or reinforce any knowledge, skills or personal qualities which—
(a) are likely to prove useful to the employee when performing the duties of the employment or a related employment, or
(b) will qualify or better qualify the employee—
(i) to perform those duties, or
(ii) to participate in any charitable or voluntary activities that are available to be performed in association with the employment or a related employment.
(2) For this purpose “related employment”, in relation to an employee, means another employment with the same employer, or with a person connected with the employer, which the employee—
(a) is to hold,
(b) has a serious opportunity of holding, or
(c) can realistically expect to have a serious opportunity of holding in due course.
(1) Where travel or subsistence is provided or the costs of travel or subsistence are paid or reimbursed, section 250 does not apply except to the extent that the travel meets condition A or B or the subsistence meets condition B.
(2) Condition A is that, on the assumptions in subsection (4), mileage allowance relief under Chapter 2 of this Part would be available for the travel if no mileage allowance payments had been made.
(3) Condition B is that, on those assumptions, the expenses of the travel or subsistence would be deductible under Part 5.
(4) The assumptions are—
(a) that the employee undertook the training as one of the duties of the employment, and
(b) that the employee incurred and paid the expenses.
(5) In this section—
“mileage allowance payments” has the meaning given by section 229(2), and
“subsistence” includes food, drink and temporary living accommodation.
253 Exception where provision for excluded purposes
(1) Section 250 does not apply if or to the extent that the facilities or other benefits that are provided or the costs of which are paid or reimbursed are provided to the employee for one or more of the following purposes.
(2) They are—
(a) enabling the employee to enjoy the facilities or benefits for entertainment or recreational purposes which are unconnected,
(b) providing the employee with an unconnected inducement to remain in or accept an employment with the employer or a person connected with the employer, and
(c) rewarding the employee for performing duties of the employment or performing them in a particular way.
(3) In subsection (2)(a) the reference to enjoying facilities or benefits for entertainment or recreational purposes includes a reference to enjoying them in the course of a leisure activity.
(4) In subsection (2)(a) and (b) “unconnected” means unconnected with imparting, instilling, improving or reinforcing knowledge, skills or personal qualities within section 251(1).
(1) Section 250 does not apply if the benefit that is provided or the cost of which is paid or reimbursed is, or is the use of, an asset that is not a training-related asset.
(2) “Training-related asset”, in relation to work-related training provided to an employee, means—
(a) an asset provided for use only—
(i) in the course of the training, or
(ii) in the course of the training and in the performance of the duties of the employee’s employment,
(b) training materials provided in the course of the training, or
(c) something made by the employee in the course of the training or incorporated into something so made.
(3) For this purpose, “training materials” includes stationery, books or other written material, audio or video tapes, compact disks or floppy disks.
254A Apprenticeship bursaries paid to persons leaving local authority care
(1) No liability to income tax arises in respect of a care leaver's apprenticeship bursary payment.
(2) A care leaver's apprenticeship bursary payment is a payment—
(a) payable out of the public revenue,
(b) to a care leaver (see subsection (3)),
(c) made in connection with the person's employment as an apprentice (see subsection (4)), and
(d) in respect of which any conditions specified in regulations made by the Treasury are met.
(3) A person is a care leaver if they are a person—
(a) who is, or was, a child looked after—
(i) by a local authority in England within the meaning of section 22 of the Children Act 1989 (general duty of local authority in relation to children looked after by them);
(ii) by a local authority in Wales within the meaning of the Social Services and Well-being (Wales) Act 2014 (anaw 4) (see section 74 of that Act (child or young person looked after by a local authority));
(iii) by a local authority in Scotland within the meaning of Chapter 1 of Part 2 of the Children (Scotland) Act 1995 (see section 17(6) of that Act (duty of local authority to child looked after by them));
(iv) by an authority in Northern Ireland within the meaning of the Children (Northern Ireland) Order 1995 (S.I. 1995/755 (N.I. 2)) (see Article 25 of that Order (children looked after by an authority: interpretation)), and
(b) in respect of whom any other conditions specified in regulations made by the Treasury are met.
(4) “Apprentice” has the meaning specified in regulations made by the Treasury.
(5) Regulations under this section—
(a) may make provision framed by reference to a scheme (however described or named), or document, as it has effect from time to time,
(b) may make different provision for different purposes,
(c) may make different provision for different areas, and
(d) may make retrospective provision.
255 Exemption for contributions to individual learning account training
(1) No liability to income tax in respect of income from a current or former employment arises by virtue of—
(a) the provision to a person within subsection (2) (“the employee”) of individual learning account training that is given by a person who is not the employee’s employer or former employer,
(b) any payment to the person giving the training in respect of the cost of that provision,
(c) the provision to the employee of any benefit incidental to such training, or
(d) the payment or reimbursement of any costs in respect of such training of a kind specified in subsection (3).
(2) A person is within this subsection if the person either—
(a) holds an account that qualifies under section 104 of the Learning and Skills Act 2000 (c. 21), or
(b) is a party to arrangements that qualify under section 105 or 106 of that Act or section 2 of the Education and Training (Scotland) Act 2000 (asp. 8).
(3) The costs are—
(a) costs which are incidental to the employee undertaking the training,
(b) expenses incurred in connection with an examination or other assessment of what the employee has gained from the training, and
(c) the cost of obtaining any qualification, registration or award to which the employee becomes or may become entitled as a result of the training or such an examination or other assessment.
256 Meaning of “individual learning account training”
In this Chapter “individual learning account training” means training or education of a kind that qualifies for grants authorised by—
(a) regulations under section 108 or 109 of the Learning and Skills Act 2000 (c. 21), or
(b) regulations under section 1 of the Education and Training (Scotland) Act 2000.
(1) Where travel or subsistence is provided or the costs of travel or subsistence are paid or reimbursed, section 255 does not apply except to the extent that the travel meets condition A or B or the subsistence meets condition B.
(2) Condition A is that, on the assumptions in subsection (4), mileage allowance relief under Chapter 2 of this Part would be available for the travel if no mileage allowance payments had been made.
(3) Condition B is that, on those assumptions, the expenses of the travel or subsistence would be deductible under Part 5.
(4) The assumptions are—
(a) that the employee undertook the training as one of the duties of the employment, and
(b) that the employee incurred and paid the expenses.
(5) In this section—
“mileage allowance payments” has the meaning given by section 229(2), and
“subsistence” includes food, drink and temporary living accommodation.
258 Exception where provision for excluded purposes
(1) Section 255 does not apply if or to the extent that the facilities or other benefits that are provided or made available, or the costs of which are paid or reimbursed, are provided or made available for either or both of the following purposes.
(2) They are—
(a) enabling the employee or former employee to enjoy the facilities or benefits for entertainment or recreational purposes, and
(b) rewarding the employee or former employee for performing duties of the employment or former employment or performing them in a particular way.
(3) In subsection (2)(a) the reference to enjoying facilities or benefits for entertainment or recreational purposes includes a reference to enjoying them in the course of a leisure activity.
(1) Section 255 does not apply if the benefit that is provided, or the use of which is provided, or the cost of which is paid or reimbursed is an asset that is not a training-related asset.
(2) “Training-related asset”, in relation to individual learning account training provided to an employee or former employee, means—
(a) an asset provided—
(i) for use only in the course of the training, or
(ii) for use in the course of the training and in the performance of the duties of the employee’s employment, but not to any significant extent for any other use, or
(b) training materials provided in the course of the training, or
(c) something made by the employee or former employee in the course of the training or incorporated into something so made.
(3) For this purpose “training materials” includes stationery, books or other written material, audio or video tapes, compact disks or floppy disks.
260 Exception where training not generally available to staff
(1) Section 255(1) only applies if any expenditure involved in making the provision, the payment or the reimbursement is incurred in giving effect to existing arrangements providing—
(a) for the person incurring it to contribute to costs arising from the undertaking of individual learning account training by the employer’s employees or former employees, and
(b) for such contributions to be generally available, on similar terms, to the employer’s employees at that time.
(2) In subsection (1) “existing arrangements” means arrangements in place when the agreement to incur the expenditure was made.
(3) The Treasury may by regulations make provision specifying the persons or other entities under whom Crown servants are to be treated for the purposes of this section as holding employment.
(4) Such regulations may—
(a) treat a description of Crown servants (or two or more such descriptions taken together) as an entity for the purposes of the regulations, and
(b) make different provision for different descriptions of Crown servants.
(5) In this section “Crown servant” means a person holding an employment under the Crown.
(1) No liability to income tax arises in respect of the provision to an employee or a member of an employee’s family or household of benefits within subsection (2).
(2) The benefits are—
(a) sporting or other recreational facilities which meet conditions A to C, and
(b) a right or opportunity to make use of such facilities.
This is subject to section 262.
(3) Condition A is that the facilities are available generally to the employees of the employer in question.
(4) Condition B is that they are not available to members of the public generally.
(5) Condition C is that they are used wholly or mainly by persons whose right or opportunity to use them is employment-related (whether or not by reference to the same employer).
(6) A person’s right or opportunity to use facilities is “employment-related” if and only if—
(a) it derives from the person being—
(i) an employee or former employee, or
(ii) a member or former member of the family or household of an employee or former employee,
of a particular employer, and
(b) the facilities are provided so as to be available generally to that employer’s employees.
(1) Section 261 (exemption of recreational benefits) does not apply to the following benefits—
(a) an interest in or the use of any of the following—
(i) a mechanically propelled vehicle,
(ii) holiday or other overnight accommodation, or
(iii) facilities which include, or are provided in association with, a right or opportunity to make use of holiday or overnight accommodation,
(b) facilities provided on domestic premises, or
(c) a right or opportunity to make use of facilities within paragraph (a) or (b).
(2) In this section—
“domestic premises” means—
premises used wholly or mainly as a private dwelling, or
land or other premises belonging to, or enjoyed with, premises so used, and
“vehicle” includes a ship, boat or other vessel, an aircraft and a hovercraft.
263 Power to alter benefits to which section 261 applies
The Treasury may by regulations provide that section 261—
(a) does not apply to a benefit specified in the regulations,
(b) applies to a benefit so specified only where such conditions as the regulations specify are met in relation to the terms on which, and the persons to whom, it is provided, or
(c) applies in such cases as are so specified to—
(i) facilities that do not meet the conditions in section 261(3) to (5), or
(ii) a benefit within section 262.
(1) This section applies to an annual party or similar annual function provided for an employer’s employees and available to them generally or available generally to those at a particular location.
(2) Where in the tax year only one annual party or similar annual function to which this section applies is provided for the employer’s employees, or the employees in question, no liability to income tax arises in respect of its provision if the cost per head of the party or function does not exceed £150.
(3) Where in the tax year two or more such parties or functions are so provided, no liability to income tax arises in respect of the provision of one or more of them (“the exempt party or parties”) if the cost per head of the exempt party or parties does not exceed £150 or £150 in aggregate.
(4) For the purposes of this section, the cost per head of a party or function is the total cost of providing—
(a) the party or function, and
(b) any transport or accommodation incidentally provided for persons attending it (whether or not they are the employer’s employees),
divided by the number of those persons.
(5) That total cost includes any value added tax on the expenses incurred in providing the party, function, transport or accommodation.
(1) No liability to income tax arises in respect of the provision of entertainment for an employee or a member of the employee’s family or household if conditions A to C are met.
(2) Condition A is that the person providing the entertainment is not the employer or a person connected with the employer.
(3) Condition B is that neither the employer nor a person connected with the employer has directly or indirectly procured its provision.
(4) Condition C is that it is not provided—
(a) in recognition of particular services performed by the employee in the course of the employment, or
(b) in anticipation of particular services to be so performed.
(5) In this section “entertainment” includes hospitality of any kind.
266 Exemption of non-cash vouchers for exempt benefits
(1) No liability to income tax arises by virtue of Chapter 4 of Part 3 (taxable benefits: vouchers and credit-tokens) in respect of a non-cash voucher if or to the extent that the voucher is used to obtain anything the direct provision of which would fall within—
(a) section 237(1) (parking provision),
(b) section 246 (transport between home and work for disabled employees: general),
(c) section 247 (provision of cars for disabled employees),
(d) section 248 (transport home: late night working and failure of car-sharing arrangements), ...
(e) section 265 (third party entertainment), or
(f) section 320C (recommended medical treatment);
(2) No liability to income tax arises by virtue of Chapter 4 of Part 3 (taxable benefits: vouchers and credit-tokens) in respect of a non-cash voucher if the voucher evidences the employee’s entitlement to use anything the direct provision of which would fall within—
(a) section 242 (works transport services),
(b) section 243 (support for public bus services), ...
(c) section 244 (cycles and cyclist’s safety equipment), or
(d) section 319 (mobile telephones).
(3) No liability to income tax arises by virtue of Chapter 4 of Part 3 (taxable benefits: vouchers and credit-tokens) in respect of a non-cash voucher if the voucher can only be used to obtain anything the direct provision of which would fall within—
(a) section 245 (travelling and subsistence during public transport strikes),
(b) section 261 (exemption of recreational benefits),
(c) section 264 (annual parties and functions),
(d) section 296 (armed forces' leave travel facilities), ...
(e) section 317 (subsidised meals) , ...
(f) section 320A (eye tests and special corrective appliances) ...
(g) section 320B (health screening and medical check-ups) , or
(h) section 320D (flu vaccinations).
(4) No liability to income tax arises by virtue of Chapter 4 of Part 3 (taxable benefits: vouchers and credit-tokens) in respect of a non-cash voucher if the voucher evidences the employee’s entitlement to a benefit in respect of which no charge arises by virtue of Chapter 10 of Part 3 (taxable benefits: residual liability to charge) because of regulations under section 210 (power to exempt minor benefits).
(5) For the purposes of this section direct provision is taken to fall within a section if it would do so if the employee were not in lower-paid employment as a minister of religion.
267 Exemption of credit-tokens used for exempt benefits
(1) No liability to income tax arises by virtue of Chapter 4 of Part 3 (taxable benefits: vouchers and credit-tokens) in respect of a credit-token if or to the extent that the token is used to obtain anything the direct provision of which—
(a) would fall within one of the provisions specified in subsection (2), or
(b) would do so if the employee were not in lower-paid employment as a minister of religion.
(2) Those provisions are—
(a) section 237(1) (parking provision),
(b) section 245 (travelling and subsistence during public transport strikes),
(c) section 246 (transport between home and work for disabled employees: general),
(d) section 247 (provision of cars for disabled employees),
(e) section 248 (transport home: late night working and failure of car-sharing arrangements), ...
(f) section 265 (third party entertainment).
(g) section 319 (mobile telephones). , ...
(h) section 320A (eye tests and special corrective appliances) ...
(i) section 320B (health screening and medical check-ups) , and
(j) section 320D (flu vaccinations).
268 Exemption of vouchers and tokens for incidental overnight expenses
(1) No liability to income tax arises by virtue of Chapter 4 of Part 3 (taxable benefits: vouchers and credit-tokens) in respect of a non-cash voucher or a credit-token if or to the extent that the voucher or token is used by an employee to obtain goods, services or money if conditions A to C are met.
(2) In the case of goods or services, condition A is that—
(a) obtaining them is incidental to the employee’s absence from the place where the employee normally lives, and
(b) that absence is for a continuous period in relation to which the overnight stay conditions are met (“the qualifying period”).
(3) In the case of money, condition A is that—
(a) it is obtained for the purpose of obtaining goods or services, and
(b) obtaining them is incidental to such an absence during such a period.
(4) Condition B is that an amount would not be deductible under section 362 or 363 (deductions where non-cash voucher or credit-token provided) in respect of the cost of obtaining the goods or services.
(5) Condition C is that the exemption provisions total in respect of the qualifying period does not exceed the permitted amount.
(6) In this section—
“the overnight stay conditions” has the same meaning as in section 240 (exemption of incidental overnight expenses and benefits) (see section 240(4)), and
“the exemption provisions total” and “the permitted amount” have the same meaning as in section 241 (incidental overnight expenses and benefits: overall exemption limit) (see section 241(2) and (3)).
269 Exemption where benefits or money obtained in connection with taxable car or van or exempt heavy goods vehicle
(1) No liability to income tax arises by virtue of Chapter 4 of Part 3 (taxable benefits: vouchers and credit-tokens) in respect of a non-cash voucher or a credit-token if or to the extent that the voucher or token is used by the employee or a member of the employee’s family for obtaining—
(a) goods or services in connection with a taxable car or van or an exempt heavy goods vehicle, or
(b) money which is spent on such goods or services.
(2) Subsection (1) applies where the goods in question are fuel for a car, or van, but see section 149(3) or section 160(3) (by virtue of which such use of a voucher or token is treated as the provision of the fuel for the purposes of section 149 (benefit of car fuel treated as earnings) or section 160 (benefit of van fuel treated as earnings)).
(3) For the purposes of this section—
(a) “car” and “van” have the meaning given by section 115, and
(b) a car or van is “taxable” if the cash equivalent of the benefit of it is treated as the employee’s earnings for the tax year in which the voucher or token is used under Chapter 6 of Part 3 (taxable benefits: cars, vans and related benefits).
(4) For the purposes of this section—
(a) “heavy goods vehicle” has the same meaning as in section 238 (modest private use of heavy goods vehicles), and
(b) a heavy goods vehicle is “exempt” if it is made available in the tax year to the employee in such circumstances that section 238 applies or would apply if the employee were not in lower-paid employment as a minister of religion.
270 Exemption for small gifts of vouchers and tokens from third parties
(1) No liability to income tax arises by virtue of Chapter 4 of Part 3 (taxable benefits: vouchers and credit-tokens) in respect of a non-cash voucher or a credit-token if conditions A to C are met.
(2) Condition A is that the voucher or token is provided as a gift.
(3) Condition B is that it is only capable of being used to obtain goods.
(4) Condition C is that it meets conditions A to C and E in section 324 (general exemption of small gifts from third parties).
270A Limited exemption for qualifying childcare vouchers
(1) If qualifying childcare vouchers are provided for an eligible employee—
(a) no liability to income tax arises by virtue of section 62 (general definition of earnings), and
(b) liability to income tax by virtue of Chapter 4 of Part 3 (taxable benefits: vouchers and credit tokens) arises only in respect of so much of the cash equivalent of the benefit as exceeds the exempt amount.
For the meaning of “eligible employee”, see section 270AA.
(2) A “qualifying childcare voucher” means a non-cash voucher in relation to which Conditions A to D are met.
(3) Condition A is that the voucher is provided to enable an employee to obtain care for a child who—
(a) is a child or stepchild of the employee and is maintained (wholly or partly) at the employee’s expense, or
(b) is resident with the employee and is a person in respect of whom the employee has parental responsibility.
(4) Condition B is that the voucher can only be used to obtain qualifying child care.
(5) Condition C is that the vouchers are provided under a scheme that is open—
(a) to the employer’s eligible employees generally, or
(b) generally to those at a particular location.
(5A) Where the scheme under which the vouchers are provided involves—
(a) relevant salary sacrifice arrangements, or
(b) relevant flexible remuneration arrangements,
Condition C is not prevented from being met by reason only that the scheme is not open to relevant low-paid employees.
(5B) In subsection (5A)—
“relevant salary sacrifice arrangements” means arrangements (whenever made) under which the employees for whom the vouchers are provided give up the right to receive an amount of general earnings or specific employment income in return for the provision of the vouchers;
“relevant flexible remuneration arrangements” means arrangements (whenever made) under which the employees for whom the vouchers are provided agree with the employer that they are to be provided with the vouchers rather than receive some other description of employment income;
“relevant low-paid employees” means any of the employer's employees who are remunerated by the employer at a rate such that, if the relevant salary sacrifice arrangements or relevant flexible remuneration arrangements applied to them, the rate at which they would then be so remunerated would be likely to be lower than the national minimum wage.
(5C) Condition D is that the employer has, at the required time, made an estimate of the employee's relevant earnings amount for the tax year in respect of which the voucher is provided (see section 270B).
(6) For the purposes of this section the “exempt amount”, in any tax year, is the sum of—
(a) the appropriate amount for each qualifying week in that year, and
(b) the voucher administration costs for that year.
(6ZA) In subsection (6)(a) “the appropriate amount”, in the case of an employee, means—
(a) if the relevant earnings amount in the case of the employee for the tax year, as estimated in accordance with subsection (5C), exceeds the higher rate limit for the tax year, £25 ,
(b) if the relevant earnings amount in the case of the employee for the tax year, as so estimated, exceeds the basic rate limit for the tax year but does not exceed the higher rate limit for the tax year, £28, and
(c) otherwise, £55.
(6A) The “voucher administration costs” for any tax year in respect of which qualifying childcare vouchers are provided for an employee means the difference between the cost of provision of the vouchers and their face value.
The face value of a voucher is the amount stated on or recorded in the voucher as the value of the provision of care for a child that may be obtained by using it.
(7) A “qualifying week” means a tax week in respect of which a qualifying childcare voucher is received.
A “tax week” means one of the successive periods in a tax year beginning with the first day of that year and every seventh day after that (so that the last day of a tax year or, in the case of a tax year ending in a leap year, the last two days is treated as a separate week).
(8) An employee is only entitled to one exempt amount even if care is provided for more than one child.
But it does not matter that another person may also be entitled to an exempt amount in respect of the same child.
(9) An employee is not entitled to an exempt amount under this section and under section 318A (limited exemption for employer-contracted childcare) in respect of the same tax week.
(10) In this section “care”, “child”, “parental responsibility” and “qualifying child care” have the same meaning as in section 318A (see sections 318B and 318C).
(10A) In this section “ cost of provision”, in relation to a childcare voucher, has the meaning given in section 87(3) and (3A).
(11) The powers conferred by section 318D (childcare: power to vary amounts and qualifying conditions) are exercisable—
(a) in relation to the amounts specified in subsection (6ZA) above as in relation to the amounts specified in section 318A(6A) , and
(b) in relation to the qualifying conditions for the exemption conferred by this section as in relation to the qualifying conditions for the exemption conferred by section 318A.