How could a termination payment be taxed?

Produced by Tolley in association with Sue El Hachmi of Osborne Clarke LLP
Employment Tax
Guidance

How could a termination payment be taxed?

Produced by Tolley in association with Sue El Hachmi of Osborne Clarke LLP
Employment Tax
Guidance
imgtext

Termination payments are defined in the Termination payments ― overview guidance note.

Termination payments can take the form of cash, benefits or both. The payment will either be fully taxable, partially taxable or fully exempt depending on the nature and the amount of the payment.

Depending on the circumstances, termination payments can be categorised as one of the following, each with their own tax and NIC treatment:

  1. earnings ― see the Taxation of cash employment termination payments guidance note

  2. benefits in kind ― see the Taxation of non-cash employment termination payments guidance note

  3. restrictive covenants ― see the Taxation of payments for restrictive covenants guidance note

  4. benefits from an employer-financed retirement benefits scheme (EFRBS) ― see the Employer-financed retirement benefit schemes (EFRBS) ― overview guidance note

  5. termination payments (this includes benefits) within ITEPA 2003, s 401 ― see the Termination payments ― overview guidance note

It is the employer’s responsibility to correctly operate PAYE for termination payments and they,

Continue reading the full document
To gain access to additional expert tax guidance, workflow tools, generative tax AI, and tax research, register for a free trial of Tolley+™
Sue El Hachmi
Sue El Hachmi

Senior Associate at Osborne Clarke


Sue advises on the design and implementation of employee incentive arrangements for private and public companies, including all types of tax-advantaged plans and bespoke arrangements for senior executives and management.Sue also advises on the incentive-related aspects of corporate transactions and has experience of private equity transactions and public company takeovers, flotations and demergers.Sue is a member of the Share Plan Lawyers Group and a member of the UK BioIndustry Association Finance and Tax Advisory Committee.

Powered by Tolley+
  • 25 Nov 2025 10:44

Popular Articles

Associated companies ― from 1 April 2023

Associated companies ― from 1 April 2023Implications of associated companiesFrom 1 April 2023, the rate of corporation tax that a company is subject to depends on the level of its augmented profits. The rate of tax is based on a comparison of the company’s augmented profits against the corporation

22 Mar 2021 10:21 | Produced by Tolley Read more Read more

Income tax losses ― overview

Income tax losses ― overviewIncome tax losses can arise due to a number of reasons, but not all losses can be relieved against total income and some losses can only be set against certain types of component income. The table below is a summary of the main reliefs for income tax losses.Summary of

04 Mar 2021 12:19 | Produced by Tolley Read more Read more

Maintenance payments

Maintenance paymentsMaintenance payments are payments made by a taxpayer to their former or separated spouse / civil partner for the maintenance of that person or their children. To obtain any tax relief for maintenance payments, one of the couple must have been born before 5 April 1935 and the

14 Jul 2020 12:12 | Produced by Tolley Read more Read more