Where an employer incurs expenses in providing periodic medical check ups for employees, there is no chargeable benefit and no tax or NICs will be due.

If an employee is required as part of his or her duties to make use of a visual display unit no benefit arises on the cost of:

• an eyesight test, or
• spectacles provided solely for use with the VDU, or
• a proportion for special use of spectacles provided for general use but including a prescription for special use with the VDU.

If the employer meets the cost of spectacles for general use, including at the VDU, a chargeable benefit will arise and a Class 1 NICs liability will also arise. Where it is the employer who arranges for the optician to supply the required spectacles to the employee a Class 1A NICs liability will arise rather than a liability for Class 1 NICs.

Level 3 Table of Contents