Autumn Statement: £500 tax-break proposal

Just been digging my way through the Autumn Statement document that supports George Osborne’s speech today.

And the first item that leaps out at me may well be some unexpectedly good news around the Sickness Absence Review proposals. Those who have followed this particular strand of the employee benefits saga will be aware that a proposed tax break of £500 was announced to help employers fund some medical treatments. The tax break was initially only intended for treatments “recommended by the Independent Assessment Service (IAS)”.

A consultation on the proposal was opened by HMRC in the summer, and several organisations (including Jelf) responded suggested that the tax-break should be extended to any treatments recommended by either the IAS or a company sponsored Occupational Health Service.

And although I have yet to see a response to that consultation, it appears that this point may have been accepted. The following paragraph is from the Autumn Statement document:

“2.49 Tax exemption for employer-funded occupational health treatments – As announced at Budget 2013 the government will introduce a tax exemption for amounts up to £500 paid by employers for medical treatment for employees. In response to consultation the government will extend the exemption to medical treatments recommended by employer‑arranged occupational health services in addition to those recommended by the new Health and Work Service.”

This is potentially huge news for the health related side of the employee benefits world, and may help shape offerings for some years to come. We will obviously return to this point once the dust has settled and we have some more detail to work with.

Best regards

Steve