The Social Security (Contributions) Regulations 2001

Payments to directors which are to be disregarded

27.—(1) For the purposes of earnings-related contributions, there shall be excluded from the calculation of a person’s earnings any payment in so far as it is a payment—

(a) by a company;

(b) to or for the benefit of a director of that company;

(c) in respect of any employed earner’s employment of that director with that company; and

(d) in respect of which paragraph (2), (3) or (4) is satisfied.

(2) This paragraph is satisfied if—

(a) the director is a partner in a firm carrying on a profession;

(b) being a director of a company is a normal incident of membership of that profession and of membership of the firm of the director;

(c) the director is required by the terms of his partnership to account to his firm for the payment; and

(d) the payment forms an insubstantial part of that firm’s gross returns.

(3) This paragraph is satisfied if—

(a) the director was appointed to that office by a company having the right to do so by virtue of its shareholding in, or an agreement with, the company making the payment;

(b) by virtue of an agreement with the company that appointed him, the director is required to account for the payment to that company; and

(c) the payment forms part of the profits brought into charge to corporation tax or income tax of the company that appointed the director.

(4) This paragraph is satisfied if—

(a) the director was appointed to that office by a company other than the company making the payment;

(b) by virtue of an agreement with the company that appointed him, the director is required to account for the payment to that company;

(c) the payment forms part of the profits brought into charge to corporation tax of the company that appointed the director; and

(d) the company that appointed the director is not one over which—

(i) the director has, or

(ii) any person connected with the director has, or

(iii) the director and any persons connected with him together have,

control.

(5) In this regulation—

(a) “company” has the meaning given by section 832(1) and (2) of the Taxes Act (interpretation of the Tax Acts);

(b) “the director” means the director to or for the benefit of whom the payment referred to in paragraph (1) is made; and

(c) in paragraph (4)(d)—

(i) “control” has the same meaning as in section 840 of the Taxes Act,

(ii) “any person connected with the director” means any of the following, namely the spouse, parent, child, son-in-law or daughter-in-law of the director.