Are Expenses taxed as income?

dori2o

Depends on the employer and what they decide to do.
I know some employers have allowed for expenses for monitors, and other IT equipment that is not available in the home (Mouse, cables, Hubs, etc), some have even allowed expenses for people to buy desks etc and have said that the employee can keep the items regardless of whether they leave employment/return to the office.
Some employers are also dealing with any benefit in kind tax that might become due, either by paying it themselves or by looking for a dispensation.
Others are providing the necessary equipment on a loan basis.
Whilst some are offering to reimburse expenses but will take ownership of the items if/when they are no longer required.
Best person to speak to is your employer to understand what their policy is.

xxxxxxxx

I just had this thought.

Surely if it is the employer's they would want to recover the VAT  I would spend in buying one?  
This is a government employer BTW.  
Someone else thinks the items are their property now.
Getting an answer to the question from the employer is proving to be difficult.  

Someone else asked if I already had a monitor..no, I have an old laptop of my own.

LittleVoice

xxxxxxxx said:

I just had this thought.

Surely if it is the employer's they would want to recover the VAT  I would spend in buying one?  
This is a government employer BTW.  
Someone else thinks the items are their property now.
Getting an answer to the question from the employer is proving to be difficult.  

Someone else asked if I already had a monitor..no, I have an old laptop of my own.

Yes - I asked.  It was to see whether we could establish that the monitor was purely for work purposes and therefore not providing a personal benefit.  Your having a laptop suggests that you needed the monitor for work purposes but not personal. 

sharpe106

Not quite sure what the confusion is the person that buys the monitor is the owner, the employer in this case, if they want it back again when you have finished with it who knows but they are still the owner until they state they no longer want it.

 

For expenses you will not be taxed on it. It will just be paid into your bank.  

LittleVoice

sharpe106 said:

Not quite sure what the confusion is the person that buys the monitor is the owner, the employer in this case, if they want it back again when you have finished with it who knows but they are still the owner until they state they no longer want it.

 

For expenses you will not be taxed on it. It will just be paid into your bank.  

I agree it is clear the employer owns the monitor because they reimbursed the OP.  Perhaps confusion could arise because the initial purchase was made by the OP on the instruction of the employer:  if there was a problem with it the seller might want to say their contract was with them rather than the employer organisation.

However the title of the thread was about the tax implications of the transactions and we have probably established that at this stage no income tax liability arises.

xxxxxxxx

From a different view,  I buy the monitor. Undoubtedly the monitor belongs to me.  The employer compensates me for my expense but there is no contract that says the employer is buying the monitor from me. 

LittleVoice

xxxxxxxx said:

From a different view,  I buy the monitor undoubtedly the monitor belongs to me.  The employer compensates me for my expense but there is no contract that says the employer is buying the monitor from me. 

I think I'm tired of this thread now.  It seems the OP wants to be taxed on the purchase and is thinking up any way of claiming that it is his and the employer was just giving him some extra money (using the word compensation = wages) which should be subject to NI and income tax at his margin rate.

dori2o

xxxxxxxx said:

I just had this thought.

Surely if it is the employer's they would want to recover the VAT  I would spend in buying one?  
This is a government employer BTW.  
Someone else thinks the items are their property now.
Getting an answer to the question from the employer is proving to be difficult.  

Someone else asked if I already had a monitor..no, I have an old laptop of my own.

We are Staff in a Gov department and we've been told that anything we buy and claim the expense for is OURS to keep. 

We've been told that the employer will sort out the tax position regarding any benefit in kind.

The only equipment that has to be returned is that provided directly by the employer, I.e. iPhones, wireless/wired internet devices, laptops/portable devices, etc.

This was announced by Mark Sedwill (head of civil service) shortly after lockdown started.

xxxxxxxx

LittleVoice said: 

I think I'm tired of this thread now.  It seems the OP wants to be taxed on the purchase and is thinking up any way of claiming that it is his and the employer was just giving him some extra money (using the word compensation = wages) which should be subject to NI and income tax at his margin rate.

I clearly stated in my first reply on this thread I was looking for an answer from a legal point of view.  I do not like ambiguity, I do not like to enter into any process until I know what I am stepping in to and all of the ramifications of such.   You can assume what you wish, but your assumptions are wrong. 

I have asked 3 times to my department, 1st to a Q&A board - no reply, 2nd to HR I got a reply saying "wrong section please send it again to payroll"  and now 3rd I have asked again to payroll.  I will update this thread when I have an answer.  

xxxxxxxx

dori2o said: 

We are Staff in a Gov department and we've been told that anything we buy and claim the expense for is OURS to keep. 

We've been told that the employer will sort out the tax position regarding any benefit in kind.

The only equipment that has to be returned is that provided directly by the employer, I.e. iPhones, wireless/wired internet devices, laptops/portable devices, etc.

This was announced by Mark Sedwill (head of civil service) shortly after lockdown started.

Very useful,  thank you.