Being paid while studying???

jamesjenkinsyates

Can you get paid while studying?

jamesjenkinsyates

Noone got any ideas?

Savvy_Sue

I'd have thought that if you had an employer willing to do this, they'd already have explored the possibilities, because if they do it for one, they should be willing to do it for others. Could also be worth talking to the institution where you'll be studying.

Where I work, we have allowed some people to take a salary sacrifice: we pay their fees but reduce their salary by that amount. They pay less income tax and NI, we pay less NI and pension contribution. We may also give study days. But this is about part-time study, with the employee continuing to work for us, whereas if you're considering studying abroad, I guess that's rather full-time!

You'd have to look at what HMRC says about loans to employees.

Also be aware that you're likely to have to sign an agreement to repay if you leave within a set time. Our latest agreement requires repayment in full if the employee doesn't stay for a year after completion, and repayment of 50% if they don't stay for 2 years.

jimmo

I think you may need to put some meat on the bones of your question.
It is perfectly legal for an employer to grant a bursary, scholarship etc to anyone. However if the recipient of the bursary is an employee or a member of an employee's family there may well be tax consequences.
It is also perfectly legal for an employer to grant an employee paid leave to undertake a course of study (or for any other reason). However the employee would still be receiving his or her salary and tax and NI would still be due.
If a current employee goes on a course the salary aspect is one thing but the costs of the course and the associated travel and living expenses are another.
In very broad terms salary sacrifice converts taxable salary into "something else". Whether that "something else" attracts tax or NI liability then has to be considered separately.
Training or education is dealt with here.
http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/paye/exb/a-z/t/training.htm
The key question then seems to be whether the training is "work related " or not.
http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/manuals/eimanual/EIM01220.htm
http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/manuals/eimanual/eim01230.htm
It seems to me that Savvy_Sue's employer has probably got the balance about right and they have done their homework. The employer, as a good employer, is prepared to encourage its employees to develop themselves and do so in a tax efficient way.
There's no easy way to say this but, if you are looking for a tax dodge better minds than yours and mine have almost certainly been there before and the taxman has already closed any loopholes that may have existed in the past.
Essentially tax is personal and, on a forum, I think you have to be far more open about your personal circumstances to have any chance of getting quality advice.

Savvy_Sue

jimmo wrote: »

There's no easy way to say this but, if you are looking for a tax dodge better minds than yours and mine have almost certainly been there before and the taxman has already closed any loopholes that may have existed in the past.

:rotfl:

I should also have said that there are some disadvantages to salary sacrifice: one of my colleagues who's done this applied for a mortgage while on the salary sacrifice: the salary we confirmed was the reduced one. Also had we had to make this person redundant, it would have been the reduced salary used to calculate their entitlement to redundancy pay.