Tax-efficient mobiles to be offered via salary sacrifice

IT distributor Micro Peripherals is to launch an HM Revenue and Customs-approved mobile phone salary sacrifice scheme in partnership with mobile network provider Three (3).

Staff can pay for a mobile via salary sacrifice for a set contract period of 24 months. They can obtain almost any type of phone, including the new Apple iPhone 4, but BlackBerry handsets are excluded because they are classed as personal computers.

To gain tax efficiencies, HMRC requires the mobile to be for personal use and not for business. Guidelines also cap the texts and minutes available to the set plan, so there is no variance in the amount of salary sacrificed each month.

Simon Slater, business manager at Micro Peripherals, said: "Staff effectively save tax and national insurance on that portion of money. By picking a mid-range phone and an entry-level tariff, the net worth to the employee is £8 or £9 a month."

The contract terminates at the end of the 24 months unless staff take it on independently.

Micro Peripherals is piloting the product among its 500 employees before launching it to market later this month.