Tax - Post termination issues
- Employers and tax advisers will at times need to consider the tax treatment of lump sum payments made to employees. The terms ‘compensation payments’ or ‘termination payments’ are typically used as a generic summary for such payments, normally made to an employee at the time the employment comes to an end. The term will encompass redundancy payments, ‘golden handshakes’, payments in lieu of notice, compensation for loss of wages and a range of other similar payments
- Depending on the nature of the payment, it may:
- be taxable under as a payment or benefit earned from employment as defined by section 62 Income Tax (Earnings and Pensions) Act 2003 (ITEPA 2003)
- Fall as a restrictive undertaking to be taxed separately (s. 225)
- if it is not otherwise chargeable to income tax, fall within s 401-s416 ITEPA 2003 as a payment or benefit made in connection with the termination of employment with the result that below the threshold of £30,000 payments do not count as employment income and may be paid free of tax: or
- Fall as a statutory redundancy payment ( s 309); or
- Fall as an employer-financed retirement benefits scheme payments (s. 394);
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The Finance (No. 2) Act 2017 section 5 provides for treating all payments in lieu of notice as taxible and that payments for injury to feelings fall outside the exemption for injury payments, except where the injury amounts to a psychiatric injury or other recognised medical condition.These changes took effect from 6 April 2018 and reforms to the NICs treatment of termination payments took effect from April 2020
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