Employers will be aware that various changes have been made to the reporting requirements for employee benefits and expenses from April 2016, which mean that some employers will no longer have to complete annual return forms P11D. The three main changes are:
– The dispensations regime has been replaced with an expenses exemption – broadly, where an employee would have been entitled to tax relief in full for a benefit or expense, the employer does not need to deduct tax or NICs, and they do not need to report it to HMRC;
– Employers can now account for tax on certain benefits provided to employees through PAYE (known as ‘voluntary payrolling’), which dispenses with the need to report such benefits on forms P11D. Benefits relating to accommodation, beneficial loans, credit tokens and vouchers cannot be processed through voluntary payrolling. Note also that employers wishing to use the scheme for 2016-17 had to register with HMRC prior to 6 April 2016; and
– The introduction of a statutory exemption for trivial benefits.
