Cost is only deductible if it relates to employees and their guests
The cost of a staff party or other annual entertainment is allowed as a deduction for tax purposes. However, the cost is only deductible if it relates to employees and their guests, which would include directors in the case of a company, but not sole traders and business partners in the case of unincorporated organisations.
Also, as long as the criteria below are followed, there will be no taxable benefit charged to employees:
- The event must be open to all employees at a particular location.
- An annual Christmas party or other annual event offered to staff generally are not taxable on those attending, provided that the average cost per head of the functions does not exceed £150 p.a.. The guests of staff attending are included in the head count when computing the cost per head attending.
- All costs must be taken into account, including the costs of transport to and from the event, accommodation provided, and VAT. The total cost of the event is merely divided by the number attending to find the average cost. If the limit is exceeded then individual members of staff will be taxable on their average cost, plus the cost for any guests they were permitted to bring.
- VAT input tax can be recovered on staff entertaining expenditure. If the guests of staff are also invited to the event the input tax has to be apportioned, as the VAT applicable to non-staff is not recoverable. However, if non-staff attendees pay a reasonable contribution to the event, all the VAT can be reclaimed and of course output tax should be accounted for on the amount of the contribution.
If these limits are breached employers can pick up the tax cost by using a PAYE settlement agreement.
‘Trivial’ gifts for employees.
Employers may find the following Revenue concession useful – we have copied the note directly from the HMRC handbook:
One final cautionary note regarding VAT and staff gifts, VAT is chargeable by the employer when an employee receives gifts totalling more than £50 in a year. Turkeys however, are zero rated for VAT purposes!
