KOWHEORI-19 Ngā utunga tāpiri me ngā whakahokinga moni COVID-19 Employment allowances and reimbursements

Question

I have decided to pay an allowance to my employees to recognise the inconvenience of working from home for an extended period. Is that amount subject to tax?

Answer

Yes. This would be taxable as an amount derived by the employee in connection with their employment. If the payment is to cover costs incurred by the employee, refer to question 3.

The payment would be subject to PAYE and deductible to the employer.

Question

For tax purposes, how should I treat a payment to employees to cover costs arising from working from home?

Answer

If all the requirements below are satisfied, then the payment may be treated as:

• tax-free (as exempt income) for the employee.
• not subject to PAYE.
• deductible for the employer.

For this determination to apply:

• an employer must make a payment to an employee;
• the payment must be for an expenditure or loss incurred (or likely to be incurred) by the employee;
• the expenditure or loss must be incurred by the employee in deriving their employment income and not be private or capital in nature (but noting that the capital limitation does not apply to an amount of depreciation loss)
• the employee must derive employment income from performing their job;
• where an employee is working in part from home and in part outside home, the home-based work must be more than minor (e.g. the determination can apply to an employee who works at the employer’s premises on alternate days).

Costs could include:

• increased electricity and other utility costs arising from working from home.
• the cost of telecommunication tools and usage plans.
• the cost of acquiring home office furniture or equipment.

Question

Can I estimate the reimbursement amount I pay to my employees?

Answer

Yes. You may make a reasonable estimate of the amount of expenditure likely to be incurred by an employee or a group of employees. If you do this, you need to retain sufficient information about how you calculated and supported the estimate.

Question

Is there a simple way of estimating my employee’s working from home costs?

Answer

Yes. You can apply Determinations EE004.

This determination provides guidance on arrangements where employees agree to use their own devices (for example, phones) and usage plans (including phone and internet) for their employment.

It sets out proportions of expenditure or loss that the Commissioner will accept as being exempt income of an employee. The proportions differ depending on whether a device or usage plan is used by the employee principally for employment.

Where an employer pays a regular amount to an employee, the simplest option is to treat up to $7 per week of the amount paid as exempt income of the employee. See Determination EE004 for other options and details.

Where an employer pays an employee an allowance for general working from home costs, up to $20 of the amount paid can be treated as exempt income of the employee.

You do not have to apply the Determination. Instead, you can pay amounts based on your own reasonable estimates.

The options available under Determination EE004 are summarised in the following table. The table does not detail all the requirements of the Determination. The table must be read together with the Determination.

* Assuming the item is a low-value asset. For items that are not low-value assets, the percentage is applied to the amount of depreciation loss.

Question

Can I pay an allowance (that is, an estimated amount) to my employees for equipment and furniture that they may have purchased or intend to purchase?

Answer

Yes. You can make a reasonable estimate of the amount likely to have been spent or will be spent by an employee or a group of employees. This answer assumes that the employee will own the furniture or equipment. If you are paying for equipment that you will take ownership of, see question 9.

You will need to support your estimate with evidence. This could be based on standard equipment prices and a survey of your employees’ equipment needs (taking into account equipment they already have). If you have many employees, surveying a sample of employees will be sufficient. You must also estimate the extent to which the equipment will be used by employees for their employment.

If you would rather avoid the administrative cost of estimating this amount, you can use the safe harbour option provided in Determination EE004. Under the safe harbour option, an employer may treat up to $400 of an amount paid to an employee for furniture and equipment costs as exempt income.

These payments are not subject to PAYE and are deductible to you as the employer.

Note that you cannot claim back GST on the purchase of furniture and equipment if it belongs to your employee.

Question

Are payments made to reimburse my employee for buying office furniture or equipment tax-free?

Answer

Part or all of a reimbursement paid to an employee for the cost of furniture or equipment may be paid tax-free. This answer assumes that the employee will own the furniture or equipment. If you are paying for equipment that you will take ownership of, see question 9.

The amount that you can reimburse tax-free is based on the depreciation loss that the employee could claim as a deduction on the assets (if the rule that normally prevents this did not apply).  For low-value assets purchased by employees, the depreciation loss is based on the cost of the goods (see the note on low-value assets below).  The amount that you can reimburse tax-free also depends on the extent to which the furniture and equipment is used by your employees for their employment.

Determination EE004 provides two options to help you to determine the amount that can be paid tax-free: the safe harbour option and the reimbursement option.

Under the safe harbour option, an employer may treat up to $400 of an amount paid to an employee for furniture and equipment costs as exempt income.

Under the reimbursement option, check the following scenarios.

• Where there is evidence that an asset will be used exclusively for employment purposes, 100% of the depreciation loss on the asset (the cost of the asset, in the case of a low-value asset) can be paid as exempt income of the employee.
• For an employee who uses an asset principally for their employment, an amount of up to 75% of the depreciation loss on the asset depreciation loss on the asset (the cost of the asset, in the case of a low-value asset) can be paid as exempt income of the employee.
• For an employee who does not use an asset principally for their employment, an amount of up to 25% of the depreciation loss on the asset (the cost of the asset, in the case of a low-value asset) can be paid as exempt income of the employee. See Determination EE004 for conditions and further details.

These payments are not subject to PAYE and are deductible to you as the employer. Note that you cannot claim a GST deduction for the purchase of furniture and equipment if it belongs to your employee.

Note

Furniture or equipment assets are likely to be low-value assets. If so, the depreciation loss for the assets will be equal to their cost.

For an asset purchased before 17 March 2020 to be a low-value asset, it must have cost $500 or less. For an asset purchased on or after 17 March 2020 and before 17 March 2021 to be a low-value asset, it must have cost $5,000 or less. Note that on 17 March 2021, the low-value asset threshold decreased to $1,000.

Question

What if an employee works partly from home and partly outside of home?

Answer

Determinations EE004 can be applied in full to an employee who works partly from home and partly outside of their home, provided the home-based activity is more than minor.

Question

I have supplied my employee with business tools such as a laptop to use at home and they are permitted incidental private use. Is that subject to FBT?

Answer

Generally, no. If the tools are supplied mainly for business use and the cost of the business tool to the employer is no more than $5,000 including GST then the provision of that tool will not be subject to FBT.

Question

My employee purchased home office equipment and I reimbursed them on the condition that the equipment would belong to the business. What are the tax implications of this?

Answer

It seems that you may have effectively purchased the asset from your employee, or they may have purchased the asset on your behalf. If so, the asset now belongs to you as the employer. As a result, the payment to the employee will not be income of the employee, it will be a capital receipt. For you, as the employer, the tax treatment of the business tool will be the same as if you bought it directly. For example, you will be able to claim an income tax deduction for depreciation loss and a GST deduction for the purchase in the usual way. The Commissioner accepts that a tax invoice in the name of the employee in such situations is sufficient for claiming back the GST paid: Tax Information Bulletin Vol 11, No 9 (October 1999) at 82.

Tax Information Bulletin - Vol 11 No 9 - October 1999

Question

As an employee, can I claim any deductions for the cost of setting up my home office?

Answer

No. An employee cannot deduct costs incurred in deriving income from employment.

There are a very limited number of expenses that can be claimed as deductions by individuals who are not in business. The expenses are limited to income tax return preparation fees, income protection insurance premiums, commission charged on interest and dividends, interest on money borrowed to buy shares and UOMI on late paid tax. You can learn more about types of individual expenses in the income tax section.

Types of individual expenses

Question

Can I backpay my employee a lump sum amount to catch up on payments of the $15 weekly payment - going back to the beginning of the period covered by the determination, ie 17 March 2020?

Answer

Yes.

When back dating payments to employees you will need to consider the date you are back dating the payment to:

• Determination EE004 applies to payments made by employers from 1 April 2023.
• Determination EE003 applies to payments made by employers for the period from 1 October 2021 to 31 March 2023.
• Determination EE002B applies to payments made from 18 March 2021 until 30 September 2021.
• Determination EE002A applies to payments made on or before 17 March 2021.
• Determination EE002 applies to payments made on or before 17 March 2020 to 17 September 2020.

Question

Is there a time limit for making payments?

Answer

There is no stated time limit for when the payments must be made, but delay could make it harder to satisfy the requirements. The payments must be made for expenditure incurred by the employee.

As usual with tax matters, the onus is on taxpayers to show that this requirement is met. The longer employers delay before making these payments, the more doubt arises as to whether this requirement is met.

These determinations do not apply to payments made as part of a salary sacrifice arrangement.