Employer paying for season ticket

jprior1908

Hi all

I currently live in shoreham-by-sea (sussex) and I've been offered a job in London Bridge for three days a week.

The employer has offered me a 20k wage plus 5k, 25k in total, to cover my season ticket, which at the moment is £5186 from Shoreham so it doesn't quite cover it. So already i'm out of pocket by a lot as I will have to pay tax and national insurance on the my 25k wage and then buy the season ticket afterwards. 

What i've suggested is that they pay me a 20k wage and then buy the season ticket for me, that way I get my wage and the whole price of the season ticket is covered. The employer came back to me over the weekend, after speaking to his accountant, and has said his account has said its not possible to do (not because they cant afford it). 

So what I want to know is can an employer pay for a season ticket for you without you having to pay them back? I've had a quick look on the GOV website but I got a bit confused and cant work out wether its possible or not. I would like to go back to the employer and tell him that it is possible. 

Cheers

Takeaway_Addict

it probably gets treated as a benefit in kind so your tax free allowance would be reduced anyway to pay the tax on it

jprior1908

Jillanddy - they have said they will pay for the travel, I know an employer doesn't have to pay for travel but they have said they will. I'm not exactly about to show them a discussion on a forum about this job so not really sure why you think im going to show them opinions from a bunch of random strangers as you say. 

Andy_L

It depends what they mean by "impossible"

It isn't impossible in that its illegal, they could do it but, as takeawayaddict said, it will be a taxable benefit.

They may mean its impossible because of: their internal policies or that their accounting/payroll software can't handle it it and they aren't prepared to change them just for you.

Alternatively they mat be worried that inflation in season ticket costs will result in you getting a big pay rise every year or that they will be out of pocket if you quit after 2 months & they can't recover the money from you

wilfred30

So the difference  between what they are prepared to give you and the cost of the season ticket is £186, hardly 'a lot' over the course of a year.

I think there's a danger that if you kick up a big fuss about it, you may find that your job offer is rescinded.

TBagpuss

It's a benefit in kid, so you would be taxed on it whether they buy it for you or pay you and you buy it. 

You could, of course, ask them to pay a bit more to make sure that it puts you in the position you would have been in if you were earning £20K with no commute cots - which would be about £27,500, but as others have said, it's normal to have to cover your own commuting costs so I suspect that they would say that they contribute £5K to the travel, rather than covering the full whack.

jobbingmusician

Also I note that an annual season ticket means that you can travel every single day, not just the 3 days you work.  Is an annual ST actually the cheapest way for you to get to work for 3 days a week?  For example, it might be cheaper to stay overnight in a cheap B & B or with a friend.....

JCS1

wilfred30 said:

So the difference  between what they are prepared to give you and the cost of the season ticket is £186, hardly 'a lot' over the course of a year.

I think there's a danger that if you kick up a big fuss about it, you may find that your job offer is rescinded.

It's more than that, as they are proposing paying the £5k as part of salary so will be subject to tax and national insurance deductions.

steampowered

Your employer paying for your season ticket will be treated as a "benefit in kind", i.e. it is like salary so you get taxed on it.

Commuting to London for £25k sounds like madness to me. £20k after your season ticket and at least 90 minutes each way commuting. You'd be better off working down the local McDonalds!

jprior1908

steampowered said:

Your employer paying for your season ticket will be treated as a "benefit in kind", i.e. it is like salary so you get taxed on it.

Commuting to London for £25k sounds like madness to me. £20k after your season ticket and at least 90 minutes each way commuting. You'd be better off working down the local McDonalds!

Not all of us earn a massive wage sadly

Thrugelmir

jprior1908 said:

Jillanddy - they have said they will pay for the travel, I know an employer doesn't have to pay for travel but they have said they will. I'm not exactly about to show them a discussion on a forum about this job so not really sure why you think im going to show them opinions from a bunch of random strangers as you say. 

Then you need to negotiate an amount which covers the cost of season ticket after the deduction of all payroll  taxes.