Company and employer loans provided to employees will be subject to HMRC taxation and reporting rules. Check what is exempt, what you must report and pay, and how to work out the value on beneficial loans.
Some National Insurance obligations fall on any employer who provides a loan to an employee. Even though the rules differ, tax treatment would apply any time an employer:
Tax and reporting rules on employee loans can be complex. But, they cover all beneficial loans that have either been arranged, advanced, guaranteed, facilitated, or taken over from someone else... by:
Note: The technical guidance explains how to approach complicated situations (details below). An example would be an employer using third-party arrangements to make a loan to an employee.
Some kinds of beneficial loans do not need reporting to HM Revenue and Customs. Neither would you need to pay tax or National Insurance on them. But, to qualify as an employee loan exemption, you must provide it:
An employee loan, or one made to any of their relatives, would need reporting to HM Revenue and Customs if it was part of a salary sacrifice arrangement.
You would need to report the costs of any loans that are not exempt to HMRC. As a rule, you would also need to deduct or pay National Insurance on them.
The majority of employer advances meet the conditions of a beneficial loan. If you, as an employer or company, provide a loan of this kind to your employee you must:
You must report and pay on all loans you write off for employees. This rule applies no matter whether they got classed as beneficial loans or not. Thus, after writing off the employee loan you would need to:
There are several ways to work out the value of loans for taxes. You can use HMRC PAYE Online for employers or use commercial payroll software. Use the P11D working sheet 4 to make manual calculations.
You should report the employee's salary amount instead if the cost of the actual loan is less than the total amount of salary given up.
Note: Tax treatment on employee loans differs on this type of arrangement made before the 6th of April 2017. Check further guidance on salary sacrifice for employers.
Tax Rules on Employee Loans Provided by Employers in United Kingdom