Ill health

Returning to work after illness

Posted by David on October 01, 2014
HMRC, News articles / Comments Off on Returning to work after illness

Section 12 of Finance Act 2014 introduces a new tax exemption, capped at £500 per employee per year, for expenditure by employers on recommended medical treatment that is intended to help an employee return to work after a period of absence due to injury or ill-health.

Recent draft Regulations have now confirmed that the employee must be assessed by a health care professional, and the period of sickness must cover a consecutive period of at least 28 days, to qualify for this ‘generous’ exemption.

For those concerned that the £500 limit might be extinguished very quickly (perhaps even on the first medical consultation), remember that compensation for (or correction of) personal injury may be subject to completely different principles, especially if the injury was deemed to have been caused at work, and that further exemptions may then be due.

It may have been helpful for HMRC to set out these additional principles as part of the explanatory guidance that accompanied the announcement of this modest new £500 exemption, but if you do with to discuss these matters in more detail please contact ET4B.

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Tax breaks when looking after employees’ health

Posted by David on December 18, 2013
Expenses and benefits, Flexible Benefits, News articles / Comments Off on Tax breaks when looking after employees’ health

Earlier this year the government opened consultations on providing a new tax exemption for employer costs incurred in helping staff return to work. This is intended to tie in with the new ‘health and work assessment and advisory service’ due to be created next year, whose main ‘intervention’ focus will be to ensure that employees off sick are able to return to work as soon as possible.

The initial suggestions, that the tax relief should have a £500 maximum and should only apply if the employer agrees to fund all such ‘interventions’, has attracted some criticism. However it is worth remembering that a significant proportion of staff medical or welfare costs may already be met by employers, without incurring tax or NIC charges. This article provides a brief summary. Please contact the ET4B team if you require additional information.

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