Self improvement training fees

Carole

Hi all MIP's

I posted this in members but didn't get much response so I thought MIP's might have a better knowledge of this.

An employee is paying for his own HNC course via a student loan. As his employer we receive a Construction Industry grant because he is attending a training course. We would like to pass on this grant to our employee to help with his fees.

Do I need to put this through PAYE or can we pay it to him gross?

Any ideas appreciated.

Thank you

MarieNoelle

Hi Carole,
I am not familiar with this but to receive the Grant, isn't the employer suppose to meet the cost of training in the first place? In which case it would just be a case of the employee claiming the cost of training and being reimbursed by the employer, and no taxable benefit in kind would then arise?
Am I missing something?

Carole

Its quite bizarre, but no we don't have to pay the fees to receive the grant. Its because we pay the Construction Industry Training Board a LOT of money each year in subscriptions we receive the grant. He wants to pay the fees himself because of the student loan.

Dcollins

Training linked to employment is not taxable, so I would pay it to him gross. Ask him to complete an expenses form and attach a copy of the invoice he's paid. Then just check that the training is covered by your dispensation (or look into getting a dispensation if your company doesn't have one).

Carole

Thank you, yes that makes most sense.
We have a dispensation for employees.

Now its time to get out into the sun for the bank holiday weekend!!