Jennifer Adams notes there are instances where choosing to take a benefit-in-kind rather than salary may not produce a reduction in tax or National Insurance contributions for employee or employer.
Remuneration comes in many guises, usually as salaries, bonuses or benefits-in-kind, all being subject to tax and National Insurance contributions (NICs) unless the payment or benefit is specifically exempted (e.g., long-service awards).
Importantly, employees do not pay NICs on benefits-in-kind and one method whereby this point can be to an employee's advantage is via the use of what HMRC terms ‘optional remuneration arrangements’ (OpRAs). You will usually find such 'arrangements' in ‘salary sacrifice schemes’, but others can come under this heading.
How do they work?
The main feature of such 'arrangements'
