Finance Act 1997

63 Work-related training

(1) After section 200A of the Taxes Act 1988 there shall be inserted the following sections—

“200B Work-related training provided by employers

(1) This section applies for the purposes of Schedule E where any person (“the employer”) incurs expenditure on providing work-related training for a person (“the employee”) who holds an office or employment under him.

(2) Subject to section 200C, the emoluments of the employee from the office or employment shall not be taken to include—

(a) any amount in respect of that expenditure; or

(b) any amount in respect of the benefit of the work-related training provided by means of that expenditure.

(3) For the purposes of this section the employer shall be taken to incur expenditure on the provision of work-related training in so far only as he incurs expenditure in paying or reimbursing—

(a) the cost of providing any such training to the employee; or

(b) any related costs.

(4) In subsection (3) above “related costs”, in relation to any work-related training provided to the employee, means—

(a) any costs which are incidental to the employee’s undertaking the training and are incurred wholly and exclusively as a result of his doing so;

(b) any expenses incurred in connection with an assessment (whether by examination or otherwise) of what the employee has gained from the training; and

(c) the cost of obtaining for the employee any qualification, registration or award to which he has or may become entitled as a result of undertaking the training or of undergoing such an assessment.

(5) In this section “work-related training” means any training course or other activity which is designed to impart, instill, improve or reinforce any knowledge, skills or personal qualities which—

(a) is or, as the case may be, are likely to prove useful to the employee when performing the duties of any relevant employment; or

(b) will qualify him, or better qualify him—

(i) to undertake any relevant employment; or

(ii) to participate in any charitable or voluntary activities that are available to be undertaken in association with any relevant employment.

(6) In this section “relevant employment”, in relation to the employee, means—

(a) any office or employment which he holds under the employer or which he is to hold under the employer or a person connected with the employer;

(b) any office or employment under the employer or such a person to which he has a serious opportunity of being appointed; or

(c) any office or employment under the employer or such a person as respects which he can realistically expect to have such an opportunity in due course.

(7) Section 839 (meaning of “connected person”) applies for the purposes of this section.

200C Expenditure excluded from section 200B

(1) Section 200B shall not apply in the case of any expenditure to the extent that it is incurred in paying or reimbursing the cost of any facilities or other benefits provided or made available to the employee for one or more of the following purposes, that is to say—

(a) enabling the employee to enjoy the facilities or benefits for entertainment or recreational purposes unconnected with the imparting, instilling, improvement or reinforcement of knowledge, skills or personal qualities falling within section 200B(5)(a) or (b);

(b) rewarding the employee for the performance of the duties of his office or employment under the employer, or for the manner in which he has performed them;

(c) providing the employee with an employment inducement which is unconnected with the imparting, instilling, improvement or reinforcement of knowledge, skills or personal qualities falling within section 200B(5)(a) or (b).

(2) Section 200B shall not apply in the case of any expenditure incurred in paying or reimbursing any expenses of travelling or subsistence, except to the extent that those expenses would be deductible under section 198 if the employee—

(a) undertook the training in question in the performance of the duties of his office or employment under the employer; and

(b) incurred those expenses out of the emoluments of that office or employment.

(3) Section 200B shall not apply in the case of any expenditure incurred in paying or reimbursing the cost of providing the employee with, or with the use of, any asset except where—

(a) the asset is provided or made available for use only in the course of the training;

(b) the asset is provided or made available for use in the course of the training and in the performance of the duties of the employee’s office or employment but not for any other use;

(c) the asset consists in training materials provided in the course of the training; or

(d) the asset consists in something made by the employee in the course of the training or incorporated into something so made.

(4) Section 200B shall apply in the case of expenditure in connection with anything that is a qualifying course of training for the purposes of section 588 to the extent only that section 588(1) does not have effect.

(5) Section 200B shall not apply in the case of any expenditure incurred in enabling the employee to meet, or in reimbursing him for, any payment in respect of which there is an entitlement to relief under section 32 of the [1991 c. 31.] Finance Act 1991 (vocational training).

(6) In subsection (1) above the reference to enjoying facilities or benefits for entertainment or recreational purposes includes a reference to enjoying them in the course of any leisure activity.

(7) In this section—

• “employment inducement”, in relation to the employee, means an inducement to remain in, or to accept, any office or employment with the employer or a person connected with the employer;

• “subsistence” includes food and drink and temporary living accommodation; and

• “training materials” means stationery, books or other written material, audio or video tapes, compact disks or floppy disks.

(8) Section 839 (meaning of “connected person”) applies for the purposes of this section.

200D Other work-related training

(1) For the purposes of Schedule E, where—

(a) any person (“the employee”) who holds an office or employment under another (“the employer”) is provided by reason of that office or employment with any benefit,

(b) that benefit consists in any work-related training or is provided in connection with any such training, and

(c) the amount which (apart from this section and sections 200B and 200C) would be included in respect of that benefit in the emoluments of the employee (“the chargeable amount”) is or includes an amount that does not represent expenditure incurred by the employer,

the questions whether and to what extent those emoluments shall in fact be taken to include an amount in respect of that benefit shall be determined in accordance with those sections as if the benefit had been provided by means of a payment by the employer of an amount equal to the whole of the chargeable amount.

(2) In this section “work-related training” has the same meaning as in section 200B.”

(2) In section 200A(3)(b) of that Act (definition of a qualifying absence from home), the word “either” before sub-paragraph (i) shall be omitted and, at the end of sub-paragraph (ii), there shall be inserted “or

(iii) expenses the amount of which, having been paid or reimbursed by the person under whom he holds that office or employment, is excluded from his emoluments in pursuance of section 200B, or

(iv) expenses the amount of which would be so excluded if it were so paid or reimbursed.”

(3) This section applies for the year 1997-98 and subsequent years of assessment.