HMRC have been busy over the summer updating their Employment Income Manual to keep up with changes in technology. It is becoming increasingly difficult to clarify the tax treatment of some new “gizmos” under the benefits code.
The definition of a Personal Digital Assistant (PDA)
Blackberries are a good example of the sort equipment that could be mis-classified by employers, having seemingly been mis-classified by the Revenue in the past. Bizarrely, despite describing a PDA as “little more than an electronic diary”, HMRC treated PDAs as mobile phones up until 5 April 2006.
This confusion seems to be because the definition of a mobile phone (until 5th April) was “equipment (including equipment installed in a car) that could be used to transmit spoken messages and that was not connected to a land-line”.
The definition of a mobile phone is extended from 6th April 2006 to include anything that may be used to gain access to, or the use of, a public electronic communications service. However, as computers are no longer exempt under the benefits code, PDAs, and are now deemed to be computers, and so are not exempt benefits as mobile phones.
If you have an “old” PDA, this will continue to be treated as a mobile phone. In which case you may not have another “proper” phone in addition, as the mobile phone exemption (s.319 ITEPA 2003) limits you to one phone per employee from 6th April 2006.
New PDAs will be treated as computers and so there will only be a tax and NI charge for the employee if the PDA is not provided primarily for business purposes; i.e. there is significant private use (s.316 ITEPA 2003).
Mobile hands-free kits
There is no tax charge if an employer pays for and installs a mobile phone hands-free kit into an employee’s vehicle providing that the employer retains ownership (s.319 ITEPA 2003).
If the employee buys the kit and retains ownership and the employer reimburses the cost to the employee, the reimbursement represents earnings chargeable under Section 72 ITEPA 2003.
Broadband/ISP subscriptions
S.316 ITEPA 2003 exempts from tax assets or services provided by an employer in the employee’s home solely for work purposes, as long as any private use is not significant.
If an employer provides internet access at the employee’s home solely for work purposes, under a package where there is no separate billing or record of access calls, and no breakdown is possible between work and private calls, then it will be presumed that s.316 will apply.
The treatment of the telephone line rental and call charges depends on who has contracted with the provider of the telephone line. Normally, this will be the employee, unless a separate business line has been installed.
Where an employee subscribes for his own internet access, he may make a claim from his employer without tax consequence, providing that he can show that some or all of the Internet costs related to use wholly, exclusively and necessarily in the performance of his duties. Likewise, he may make a claim under the restrictive s.336 in the right circumstances.
Where the internet package, such as for Broadband access, provides unlimited access and there are no separate billing procedures to separate business use from private use, it will not possible for an employee to identify the business part of the cost. If there is no identifiable cost that is wholly and exclusively for business use, no deduction will be due.
This principle applies to any expense that cannot be separated out or measured.
Recent changes to the Revenue’s Employment Income Manual can be found here.
