Income Tax (Earnings and Pensions) Act 2003

Work-related training

250 Exemption of work-related training provision

(1) No liability to income tax arises by virtue of—

(a) the provision for an employee of work-related training or any benefit incidental to such training, or

(b) the payment or reimbursement to or in respect of an employee of—

(i) the cost of work-related training or of any benefit incidental to such training, or

(ii) any costs of a kind specified in subsection (2) in respect of such training.

(2) The costs are—

(a) costs which are incidental to the employee undertaking the training,

(b) expenses incurred in connection with an examination or other assessment of what the employee has gained from the training, and

(c) the cost of obtaining any qualification, registration or award to which the employee becomes or may become entitled as a result of the training or such an examination or other assessment.

251 Meaning of “work-related training”

(1) In this Chapter “work-related training”, in relation to an employee, means a training course or other activity designed to impart, instil, improve or reinforce any knowledge, skills or personal qualities which—

(a) are likely to prove useful to the employee when performing the duties of the employment or a related employment, or

(b) will qualify or better qualify the employee—

(i) to perform those duties, or

(ii) to participate in any charitable or voluntary activities that are available to be performed in association with the employment or a related employment.

(2) For this purpose “related employment”, in relation to an employee, means another employment with the same employer, or with a person connected with the employer, which the employee—

(a) is to hold,

(b) has a serious opportunity of holding, or

(c) can realistically expect to have a serious opportunity of holding in due course.

252 Exception for non-deductible travel expenses

(1) Where travel or subsistence is provided or the costs of travel or subsistence are paid or reimbursed, section 250 does not apply except to the extent that the travel meets condition A or B or the subsistence meets condition B.

(2) Condition A is that, on the assumptions in subsection (4), mileage allowance relief under Chapter 2 of this Part would be available for the travel if no mileage allowance payments had been made.

(3) Condition B is that, on those assumptions, the expenses of the travel or subsistence would be deductible under Part 5.

(4) The assumptions are—

(a) that the employee undertook the training as one of the duties of the employment, and

(b) that the employee incurred and paid the expenses.

(5) In this section—

• “mileage allowance payments” has the meaning given by section 229(2), and

• “subsistence” includes food, drink and temporary living accommodation.

253 Exception where provision for excluded purposes

(1) Section 250 does not apply if or to the extent that the facilities or other benefits that are provided or the costs of which are paid or reimbursed are provided to the employee for one or more of the following purposes.

(2) They are—

(a) enabling the employee to enjoy the facilities or benefits for entertainment or recreational purposes which are unconnected,

(b) providing the employee with an unconnected inducement to remain in or accept an employment with the employer or a person connected with the employer, and

(c) rewarding the employee for performing duties of the employment or performing them in a particular way.

(3) In subsection (2)(a) the reference to enjoying facilities or benefits for entertainment or recreational purposes includes a reference to enjoying them in the course of a leisure activity.

(4) In subsection (2)(a) and (b) “unconnected” means unconnected with imparting, instilling, improving or reinforcing knowledge, skills or personal qualities within section 251(1).

254 Exception where unrelated assets are provided

(1) Section 250 does not apply if the benefit that is provided or the cost of which is paid or reimbursed is, or is the use of, an asset that is not a training-related asset.

(2) “Training-related asset”, in relation to work-related training provided to an employee, means—

(a) an asset provided for use only—

(i) in the course of the training, or

(ii) in the course of the training and in the performance of the duties of the employee’s employment,

(b) training materials provided in the course of the training, or

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

(3) For this purpose, “training materials” includes stationery, books or other written material, audio or video tapes, compact disks or floppy disks.