Part 4Employment income: exemptions
Chapter 10Exemptions: termination of employment
Outplacement benefits
311Retraining courses
1
No liability to income tax arises in respect of the payment or reimbursement of retraining course expenses by a person (“the employer”) if the course conditions, the employment conditions and, in the case of travel expenses, the conditions in subsection (5) are met.
2
In subsection (1) “retraining course expenses” means—
a
fees for the attendance of another person (“the employee”) at a training course,
b
travelling expenses incurred in connection with it,
c
fees for an examination taken during or at the end of it, or
d
the cost of any books which are essential for a person attending it.
3
The course conditions are that—
a
the course provides training designed to impart or improve skills or knowledge relevant to, and intended to be used in the course of, gainful employment (including self-employment) of any description,
b
it is entirely devoted to the teaching or practical application (or both) of the skills or knowledge, F1and
d
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
4
The employment conditions are that—
a
the employee begins the course while employed by the employer or within the period of one year after the employment ceases,
b
the employee ceases to be employed by the employer before the end of the period of 2 years beginning at the end of the course and is not re-employed by the employer within the period of 2 years after so ceasing,
c
the employee is employed F4... in the employment which is ceasing throughout the period of 2 years ending—
i
when the employee begins the course, or
ii
if earlier, when the employment ceases, and
d
the opportunity to undertake the course, on similar terms as to payment or reimbursement of amounts within subsection (1), is available—
i
generally to the employee’s fellow employees or former fellow employees in that employment, or
ii
to a particular class or classes of them.
5
The travel expenses must be—
a
expenses in respect of which, on the assumptions in subsection (6), mileage allowance relief under Chapter 2 of this Part would be available if no mileage allowance payments had been made, or
b
expenses which, on those assumptions, would be deductible under Part 5.
6
The assumptions are—
a
that attendance at the course is one of the duties of the employee’s employment,
b
that the employee incurs and pays the expenses, and
c
if the employee has in fact ceased to be employed by the employer, that the employee continues to be employed by the employer.
7
In this section “mileage allowance payments” has the meaning given by section 229(2).