BOH

So how does that work in practice then?

Does BA declare the actual value of all cheap flights individually taken per employee at the end of each FY? And then pay the tax on a per employee basis? Or have they done a deal with the IR simply on a single lump-sum basis to cover all employees?

matthewuk

Regular revenue tickets don't guarantee a seat either - the only guarantee is that the carrier will get you there (or give you your money back)

bealine

This has been raised before many times and discounted by the Inland Revenue as our customers' mileage award tickets are also not liable for income tax. (Most mileage award tickets are purchased using mileage earned from travel bought and paid for by employers so could, legitimately, be considered a taxable perk.)

Similarly, lounge access with free food and drink, awarded on a bit of plastic earned by one's employer's travel expenditure, could be termed a "taxable benefit" if one wanted to be pedantic.

It is best, from most FT'ers points of view, to let the sleeping dogs at the Inland Revenue lie peacefully asleep!

BOH

I think your award ticket example has some merit, but not the lounge access, food & drink one. And I'm not suggesting that the IR should look at this - just that the union might have to be careful what they shout about in public.

With the tax take under so much pressure and the coalition looking at all sorts of ways to raise more......some might say that this should be looked at (not me I hasten to add). Public support for the strikers might dwindle even further if the public feel some workers are getting a huge benefit without the tax......at a time when they will be asked to pay even MORE tax very shortly.

The union should be careful I would suggest..

Mr Enigma

What did the Union say:

This dispute needs to be settled by negotiation, not in court.

(or words to that effect).

Glad to see they listen to their own advice.

If they win then surely WW hand will be forced and 90 day notice will be served, take it or bye bye...

heartybob

Isn't that exactly what CC at LGW have been doing for years but without all the whingeing about having to work harder etc. etc. that their counterparts at LHR seem so concerned about?

Or have I missed something?

globalste

Whilst they must have a legitimate argument to make an appeal, iirc all that has happened is LHR staff have been brought in line with LGW staff and the rest of the industry, which is an argument skating on pretty thin ice. I thought they had agreed to the new T&Cs anyway and were disputing the people who were managed out of the company? I never know what it is that they are arguing about, I think its the distance they have to walk to the gate.

So lets say the unions win, whoop-de-do, another chunk of cost that unite have added to the struggling airline. The savings will only have to come from somewhere else, it doesn't take a degree in economics to work out that good cash-flow getting pssed up the wall at over �10m a week will turn into bad cash flow and then you get a halt on aircraft re-fits and replacement aircraft, or in the extreme, XL airways and all the others who ran out of cash to put fuel in planes and pay wages. Perhaps then, those who argued over having to do the same work as everyone else at industry-leading wages will think "maybe getting out of the recession wasn't everyone else's task, maybe I had to actually do something to help my company like all the other citizens of Britain have had to"

Unite haven't quite stooped so low as the South African Public Sector have threatening to go on strike in the middle of the World Cup over a disputed pay-rise of 6.8% (they want 8.5%), but with the recent forecasts of economic growth, its not far off.

If BA is still here in 2012, I fully expect to see some sort of strikes just prior to the World Cup, probably over the lack of ceramic bearings in the trolleys, a reduction in buttons on shirts, or reduced length shoelaces.

Roger

That's frowned upon by HMRC in the UK who persist with the 'wholly, necessarily and exclusively' rules. This doesn't apply to MPs, though.

Per diems can work well as they simplify expenses calculations immensely. I remember organising events in Germany and elsewhere for a previous multinational employer with staff participants from a dozen or more countries. Most were happy with their per diems, the Brits had to save all their receipts and claim after the event.

You want pedantic?

No, lounge access and nibbles are part of the price of a ticket which even if paid for by an employer is rarely if ever a taxable benefit.

Dave Noble

Fortunately , tax rules here are different and the tax office has a table listing the per diem claims that can be made without substantiation and sweeping claims by the other poster about "rest of us" not getting them are flawed

bealine

I was referring to "status" lounge access - not access granted by dint of class of travel. Lounge access granted to a Premier, Concorde Club, Gold, Silver, OW Emerald or Sapphire cardholder travelling in economy could be interpreted as a "perk". (.......Even more so now that the profits from the extortionate prices we pay in the staff canteens in Terminals 3 and 5 subsidise the free food available in the lounges!)

CCayley

Bear in mind the measure of the taxable benefit is the cost to the employer not the value of the benefit. A House of Lords decision concerning teachers in public schools said that marginal costing can be used. The marginal cost of flying one extra passenger is pretty trivial (unless the plane is full and you have to lay on an extra one) so the income tax arising for BA crew won't be much whoever picks up the tab.

Roger

OK, but in reality, how much lounge access is accounted for by status pax travelling in Y?What?I wish! Certainly not true of company cars, where the taxable benefit is calculated on a figure way beyond the cost of acquisition.

CCayley

Cars, accommodation, cheap loans are exceptions. The general measure is cost to the employer.

globalste

I think you're starting to bleed staff perks with loyalty schemes bealine.

Lounges are loyalty scheme, not a perk. A taxable perk is something you are entitled to use as part of your job which is subject to taxation, eg Private Healthcare. The lounge is part of the loyalty scheme paid for by BA (although ultimately by yourself for the ��� you forked out), there isn't a staff perk which allows you premium loyalties.


Although (slightly different as you purchase items with your points) Nectar is being taken through the courts again to make them pay VAT and if Nectar lose, byebye Nectar Card

BlackBerryAddict

But this never happens, because when the plane is full the staff passenger doesn't fly. In fact, a long time ago I did some analysis (when I still had access to these sorts of numbers) and it turned out that the 10% wasn't that far off the incremental costs (fuel, catering, tsp, and handling).