Season Ticket Loans / Benefit in kind

goldndelicious

Hi all,

I'm looking at taking a job which provide either a company car or travel allowance.

It's based in London so i would prefer to take the allowance, and spend that on a train season ticket.

A couple of questions....

Is a travel allowance taxed in the same way as a company car?

Can/If a company gives you an advance on your wages (ie to buy the train ticket outright from the start) is this taxed any differently?

Cheers

KiKi

goldndelicious wrote: »

Can/If a company gives you an advance on your wages (ie to buy the train ticket outright from the start) is this taxed any differently?

Cheers

When I took a season ticket loan from the company I used to work for, it was paid out in month one, then deducted from my salary over the next ten months, then I was taxed on the final amount.

My company didn't give an advance; I had to pay the £380 or so for a 1 month ticket to last until the first payday.

But I suspect all companies are different in how they do this, so you may need to check the specifics of their policies on travel allowances.

KiKi

BillTrac

You will probably find your travel allowance is regarded as a cash addition to your salary so will be treated as earned income with the tax and NI based on that

ie if you earn £25k + £5k travel allowance it wil be treated as you earning £30k.

sonyhamster

It's classed as a benefit so yes - it would be taxed as if you were earning the gross amount (benefits + salary)

ovoreo

My company has tax dispensation to offer an interest free loan which is for a travel related season tickets repayable within the tax year. All companies are different and won't necessarily be able to do this.