Counselling for employees
2 mins
Our experts at DSR Tax Refunds know how hard it is to find good, quality information about HMRC’s tax regulations that is easy to understand, and that’s why we have created these handy guides to tell you everything you need to know. Our aim is to make life easier for our clients and that is why we want to share our expertise with you. You can also call our friendly team on 0330 122 9972 – we’re the tax experts you can trust.
Do you need to inform HMRC if you provide counselling services?
If you provide counselling services for your employees related to their mental and emotional health and welfare, you don’t have to report this to HMRC and there are no additional tax or National Insurance obligations as a result of this provision.
The counselling has to meet the following conditions:
- It needs to be related to the welfare of the employees, so that means it can take into account such areas as bereavement, stress, personal relationship issues, problems with ill health, issues at work or sexual abuse
- It needs to be available to all employees, if they require those services
It can’t offer any of the following:
- Legal advice
- Tax advice
- Financial advice, unless that advice relates to any issues with debt that the employee is facing
- Medical treatment
- Advice relating to leisure or recreation activities
However, if counselling is provided as part of a salary sacrifice arrangement, it isn’t classed as exempt and will need to be reported to HMRC on your P11D form. If the amount of salary given up is greater than the cost of the counselling, you need to report the salary amount to HMRC. This only applies to salary sacrifice arrangements made after 6th April 2017.
How can DSR Tax Refunds help?
We aim to make life as simple as possible for our clients and that includes giving you the information you need to make your taxes (and your life) simpler and less stressful. Our team of experts at DSR Tax Refunds are always on hand to help our clients and our excellent standing with HMRC means that we can make sure you don’t fall foul of their regulations, while claiming your maximum tax relief. We can even take care of all that paperwork and deal with HMRC on your behalf too. Call our friendly team on 0330 122 9972 – we’re the tax experts you can trust.
This page was last updated on 06/11/2018.