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

Double tax relief

Double tax reliefWhen income arises in a foreign country to a UK resident company and that income is taxable in that foreign country, the UK may give the company relief for the foreign tax by crediting the foreign tax against the UK tax charged on that income. This might include withholding tax on

14 Jul 2020 11:31 | Produced by Tolley Read more Read more

Long service awards

Long service awardsEmployee recognition by an employer can be an important motivational tool, as well as having a positive effect on retention. Most employer awards made to an employee are treated as taxable earnings under ITEPA 2003, s 62 or as a benefit under ITEPA 2003, s 201 because they are

14 Jul 2020 12:11 | 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