Smart or salary sacrifice pensions could be under threat according to the terms of new HM Revenue & Customs tax guidance due to be published next month, a leading tax expert has warned.
Smart pensions effectively involve employees’ salaries being reduced by the amount of their pension contributions and those contributions instead being paid directly by the employer, resulting in National Insurance (NI) savings for employers and employees.
But new pensions tax simplification guidance notes relating to specific deductions for registered pension schemes, due to be published on April 6, could effectively ban employers from using salary sacrifice vehicles to avoid paying NI contributions on payments to occupational pension funds, said Alistair Kendrick, a tax partner at accountancy firm Wilder Coe.
The guidance has already been published in draft form for public consultation, which ended last month. The draft includes an outline of circumstances where employer contributions to a registered pension scheme are deductible for the calculation of trading profits for tax purposes. According to these rules, the contribution should be made wholly and exclusively for the purposes of the trade of the employer.
Kendrick said guidance note BIM46025 specifically relates to deductions for registered pension schemes and could threaten salary sacrifice schemes. It states: “Where the salary is less than the commercial rate and the size of the pension contribution appears to have been inflated, you will need to establish why this has been done and whether any tax or NI planning for the employees was one of the purposes for the size of the pension contribution rather than an incidental benefit arising from it.”
HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) would not comment on that claim, describing Kendrick’s interpretation of the guidance notes as speculation. But a spokesman said that under the separate National Insurance Contributions Bill there was only provision for action to be taken in cases of both tax and NI avoidance.
Philip Paur, director of employer solutions at Deloitte, admitted that the notes were “unhelpful” and could be interpreted as a threat to some smart pensions, but he understood that the HMRC was content with most schemes.
The obvious fact that the U.S. is in a recession is going to have people cutting costs in all places. Industries that are not essential, like perfume and other beauty products, will most likely see a drop in sales. Some fragrance companies have already been through several recessions and know how to get through another one. Other, more amateur perfume companies, may take a hit at this time. Which companies are likely to survive, and which ones are at risk during this recession?
There have been several recessions in the U.S. in the last century, causing consumers to cut down on items that are not crucial, like expensive perfume. But some perfume companies have lasted through these times and are now strong enough to stand another recession. These brands are “tried and true.” People are not afraid to make a purchase when buying them for a gift or for themselves, because it’s a brand that has been around for at least 20 years and they can count on it being a good gain. Some companies that are likely to do well in the recession are common household names like Chanel, Calvin Klein and Elizabeth Arden. Even if somebody wants to buy a perfume as a gift that they have never tried, they would rather buy a perfume from these brands than something that just came out recently.
Celebrity perfumes, for example, are likely to be at risk during times of a recession. Unless they’ve already tried it and like it, people are less likely to spend on a celebrity endorsed perfume at this time. Just because a perfume has a picture of Justin Beiber on it is not going to be enough to sell during this time. Consumers tend to look at these items as frivolous especially during a recession. Also, most celebrity perfumes like Britney Spears and Mariah Carey are targeted towards teenagers, who will have less money themselves and whose parents will not be buying them extra things like perfume.
History shows that the perfume industry is one of the first to get his during times of a recession. This doesn’t mean you have to give up some of your favorite fragrances. During these times you will see lots of perfume brands having huge sales. Stores like Sephora, Macy’s or Bloomingdale’s, which have large perfume sections, will have perfume sale specials. This is your time to get great deals on perfumes which would otherwise be unaffordable.
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