Survey sites etc- taxes

Larac

When I was in sales many moons ago we were often given vouchers as incentives on certain sales pushes. It was my understanding that this was the chosen option by the company as you did not have to pay tax on the vouchers. If there were investigations from HMRC, I could see people choosing the voucher option or selecting from the catalogue of 'goodies' rather than cash as many companies do give the option. Where do people Tesco Club, points, Nectar and Mail rewards points all fit in this as they lead to vouchers - should be these taxed - who knows. All this relatively small fry when you consider what global corporates get away with in offshore accounts..

Flyonthewall

usa1 wrote: »

Sorry, but would I have to pay tax in a £5.00 Amazon voucher?

If it was given as a gift/reward then most people would say, no, it's not taxable. It's not cash and it's not earnings. However, some people on here may disagree.

Flyonthewall

Larac wrote: »

When I was in sales many moons ago we were often given vouchers as incentives on certain sales pushes. It was my understanding that this was the chosen option by the company as you did not have to pay tax on the vouchers. If there were investigations from HMRC, I could see people choosing the voucher option or selecting from the catalogue of 'goodies' rather than cash as many companies do give the option. Where do people Tesco Club, points, Nectar and Mail rewards points all fit in this as they lead to vouchers - should be these taxed - who knows. All this relatively small fry when you consider what global corporates get away with in offshore accounts..

Technically that is a grey area because you gain them incentives based on an outcome of a paid job rather than just a gift/reward for being an active member of a site. The HMRC site does state "If you get perks or benefits from your employer these may also be taxable." It's not made clear what is and isn't taxable though.

Supermarket points are all classed as shopping discounts and so are not taxable. Same goes for cashback sites.

clemmatis

Larac wrote: »

When I was in sales many moons ago we were often given vouchers as incentives on certain sales pushes. It was my understanding that this was the chosen option by the company as you did not have to pay tax on the vouchers. If there were investigations from HMRC, I could see people choosing the voucher option or selecting from the catalogue of 'goodies' rather than cash as many companies do give the option. Where do people Tesco Club, points, Nectar and Mail rewards points all fit in this as they lead to vouchers - should be these taxed - who knows. All this relatively small fry when you consider what global corporates get away with in offshore accounts..

HMRC classes Tesco Clubcard points as discounts on future purchases (see #47 here), even when not used for that purpose.

As flyonthewall says, your vouchers may well be taxable

http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/helpsheets/hs201.pdf

http://www.ukgcva.co.uk/downloads/factsheets/fs_tax.pdf .

usa1

Flyonthewall wrote: »

If it was given as a gift/reward then most people would say, no, it's not taxable. It's not cash and it's not earnings. However, some people on here may disagree.

Surely no- one would be so petty-minded to ask someone to do a tax return on a few £5.00 amazon vouchers

Maybe its down to terminology; instead of rewards/incentives/gift, it could be a `win`.

Flyonthewall

usa1 wrote: »

Surely no- one would be so petty-minded to ask someone to do a tax return on a few £5.00 amazon vouchers

Maybe its down to terminology; instead of rewards/incentives/gift, it could be a `win`.

You wouldn't have thought so, but reading the comments on here there are people saying to declare it or the HMRC will be after you.

I think it's more down to how you're gaining them and whether it is considered work and a wage (or job benefit/incentive). You don't exactly win surveys. Although on Swagbucks you do win searches and gain Swagbucks for it...that just goes back to people wondering whether or not certain parts are taxable though and if so how that would be worked out. Personally if it's all classed as a reward/gift then I don't believe any of it is (or should be) taxable.