Commons Sense

House of Commons · Written Ministerial Statement

Tax exemptions: Employer-reimbursed coronavirus antigen tests and easement for employer-provided cycles exemption

17 December 2020 · Treasury

Proposed by Jesse Norman Con Hereford and South Herefordshire

Taxation

Summarised by AI from the official record, so it can contain mistakes.

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At a glance

Key points

  • The Government is introducing income tax exemptions and National Insurance contributions disregards for employer-reimbursed coronavirus antigen tests.
  • A time-limited easement is provided to disapply the qualifying journeys condition for Cycle to Work schemes until April 2022.
  • These measures aim to ensure employees are not taxed on these benefits during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Issue summary

The statement discusses tax exemptions for employer-reimbursed coronavirus antigen tests and an easement for employer-provided cycles during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Action requested

The Government is introducing income tax exemptions and National Insurance contributions (NICs) disregards for employer-reimbursed coronavirus antigen tests and providing a time-limited easement to disapply the qualifying journeys condition for Cycle to Work schemes until April 2022. These measures ensure that employees are not taxed on these benefits during the pandemic.

Key facts

  • The Government introduced NICs regulations - The Social Security Contributions (Disregarded Payments) (Coronavirus) (No. 2) Regulations 2020 (SI 2020/1523) on 14 December.
  • The easement for Cycle to Work schemes will be in place until 5 April 2022.
  • The tax exemption and NICs disregard apply to employer-reimbursed coronavirus antigen tests carried out during the current tax year 2020-21.
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