Autumn Statement – Employment Issues

The Chancellor has issued an autumn statement setting out certain proposed fiscal changes in the UK. One of these is to the Employee Shareholder Status (ESS) regime, which is set to be abolished. ESS was introduced in 2013, and granted beneficial tax treatment on shares owned by a new class of employee—an “employee shareholder”—in their employer, where these shares had a minimum value of £2,000 on receipt. The tax advantages linked to shares awarded under ESS will be abolished for arrangements entered into on, or after, 1 December 2016. The status itself will be closed to new arrangements at the next legislative opportunity. This is in response to evidence suggesting that the status is primarily being used for tax planning instead of supporting a more flexible workforce. Another change is to salary sacrifice arrangements. The tax and employer National Insurance advantages of salary sacrifice schemes will be removed from April 2017, except for arrangements relating to pensions, childcare, Cycle to Work and ultra-low emission cars, which will be retained. This will mean that employees swapping salary for benefits will pay the same tax as the vast majority of individuals who buy them out of their post-tax income. Arrangements in place before April 2017 will be protected until April 2018, and arrangements for cars, accommodation and school fees will be protected until April 2021.