How to Buy Great Christmas Gifts for Your Employees without Worrying About the Additional Expense

The season of giving is almost upon us and most employers want to reward their employees with an appropriate gift. However, the

Thankfully, there are ways to maximise what you give while minimising the cost using tax allowances.

Here’s what to you need to know when giving gifts to your employees, customers, or clients:

Technically, whatever you give to your employees would be considered a taxable benefit in kind of their employment. But, fortunately, there is an exemption for trivial benefits that allows you to still give Christmas gifts to your employees.

A gift, to be classed as a trivial benefit must follow these conditions:

• It must cost less than £50

• It must not be cash or a cash voucher

• It must not be something they are entitled to under their employment contract or a reward for specific work they have done or will do in the future

Meanwhile, we also want to give gifts to our customers and clients. Gifts for them can be considered tax-deductible if you follow these rules.

• A gift cannot be food, alcohol or tobacco, unless they are samples of goods your business sells • As with employee gifts, they must cost less than £50

• A prominent advertisement for your business must be included with the gift

So, you can get your employees and clients something they would like without breaking the bank or attaching an unexpected tax charge to it.

If you need assistance with tax and accounting matters beyond gift giving, please call us on 01892 807001.