The Staff Xmas Party
Did you know that companies can provide a Christmas party for staff and claim up to £150 per head as a tax deduction? If you extend your kind invitation to partners also, you can double this bounty to £300!
Give Your Lovely Customers a Little Gift
You can claim tax relief on gifts to clients and customers providing that the value does not exceed £50 and the gift is not food, drink, tobacco or exchangeable vouchers. By the way, this concession also applies to seasonal flu jabs which are also considered “trivial” although this may not go down so well with your employees!
Do Your Staff Deserve a Xmas Bonus?
Of course they do! You could always use the season of goodwill to show your valued staff how much they mean to you by giving them a little extra in their yuletide pay packet, but be aware, this will count as ordinary earnings and be subject to PAYE and NI as if it were additional salary.
IHT Annual Gift Exemption
For those with property whose estates (after liabilities) are above the IHT threshold of £325k (£650k for couples), a Christmas habit that would be nice to get into would be to use the IHT Gift Annual Exemption, of £3,000. In addition to this, any unused relief carries forward one tax year.
Not bad when you consider that a married couple with 2 children could gift £12,000 to their children if they had not used their prior year allowance.
The Giving Part of Xmas
Finally, how about giving something to a good cause over Christmas? Better still, let the Chancellor help you maximise your donation! Use Gift Aid when giving
Gift Aid is a tax-efficient way of donating money to charities, because the taxman adds tax relief to your contributions. By using a deed of covenant, Gift Aid or payroll giving, we could give an extra £936 million to good causes. And Christmas is a great time to think of others and give generously…
So, some useful tips on saving money at Christmas time, but don’t forget to enjoy yourself along the way!
Merry Christmas from Green & Peter!
