Disclosure of NICs Schemes - Guidance for promoters and employers

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The tax avoidance disclosure legislation was extended to NICs avoidance from 1 May 2007. HMRC has produced basic guidance for employers to clarify the rules in the context of salary sacrifice arrangements, such as those involving childcare vouchers and holiday pay schemes.

Because there is nothing in the legislation that specifically excludes salary sacrifice schemes, HMRC expects few such schemes to fall into any of the "hallmarks" that would require them to be notified to HMRC. In particular, the hallmarks require schemes to be "new and innovative" and most salary sacrifice schemes are well established.

HMRC suggests that promoters and payroll managers should consider whether a scheme includes something new, innovative or unusual in a way that schemes that were on the market before 1 August 2006 did not. If the answer is "yes" or "possibly", HMRC's disclosure guidance should be considered and professional advice sought.

...UK Payroll News - Latest

Further information:
Disclosure of NICs schemes
Disclosure of tax and NICs avoidance schemes

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