Withdrawing bonus from John Lewis bonus save scheme

willpzk

My girlfriend has just left her job at John Lewis Partnership where she had put around £8,500.00 into the company bonus save investment scheme with Yorkshire Building Society over the last 4 years [from her yearly bonus].

In 2014, Employee – Ownership Trusts or EOT’s were given tax free status on the first £3,600.00 per tax year for bonuses being paid out to their partners.

She received her tax free bonus in the financial year of 2015-2016 as she didn't put it into bonus save, however now we are in a new tax year, if she takes the £8,500.00 out of bonus save [which the company force her to do upon leaving the business], would the first £3,600.00 of this amount be tax free as it is from the bonus or would it be subject to normal income tax?

Dead_keen

It would be subject to normal PAYE and NIC. It would be different if any of the shares had been held for five years or more.

agrinnall

Dead_keen wrote: »

It would be subject to normal PAYE and NIC. It would be different if any of the shares had been held for five years or more.

That would be right if it was a Sharesave scheme, but as John Lewis doesn't have any shares I'm not sure whether the same rules apply to the scheme described.

Dead_keen

agrinnall wrote: »

That would be right if it was a Sharesave scheme, but as John Lewis doesn't have any shares I'm not sure whether the same rules apply to the scheme described.

No, that's not right. A sharesave scheme has different tax treatment. But John Lewis does have shares and uses some of them in a share incentive plan.