Expenses and benefits: vouchers

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1. Overview

As an employer providing vouchers to your employees, you have certain tax, National Insurance or reporting obligations.

What’s included

This includes vouchers that are:

  • exchangeable for cash
  • only exchangeable for goods or services

There are different rules for childcare vouchers.

2. What to report and pay

What you have to report and pay to HMRC depends on whether the vouchers are exchangeable for cash.

Vouchers exchangeable for cash

These vouchers count as earnings, so you’ll need to:

  • add their value to the employee’s other earnings
  • deduct and pay PAYE tax and Class 1 National Insurance through payroll

Vouchers exchangeable for goods and services only (non-cash vouchers)

You must:

  • report the value on form P11D
  • add the cost of the vouchers to the employee’s earnings when deducting Class 1 National Insurance (but not PAYE tax) through payroll

Exceptions

There are some non-cash vouchers that you don’t need to deduct Class 1 National Insurance on. See a list of exempt vouchers.

You’ll still need to report these vouchers using the same reporting method as other non-cash vouchers.

3. Technical guidance

The following guides contain more detailed information: