Finance Act 1994

Employee benefits: transport vouchers

27 (1) This paragraph applies to any person (an “eligible person”)—

(a) who on 11th January 1994 was in the employment of—

(i) the Board,

(ii) a wholly owned subsidiary of the Board, or

(iii) any other subsidiary of the Board which, at that date, was a passenger transport undertaking; and

(b) who at that date was provided, or was eligible to be provided, by reason of that employment, with a transport voucher falling within subsection (6) of section 141 of the Taxes Act 1988 (exclusion of subsection (1) of that section in relation to certain transport vouchers);

but this sub-paragraph is subject to sub-paragraph (2) below.

(2) This paragraph shall not apply, or shall cease to apply, to a person if, on or after 11th January 1994, any of the following conditions became or becomes satisfied in his case, that is to say—

(a) he ceases, otherwise than—

(i) by virtue of anything done under or by virtue of, or pursuant to, the [1993 c. 43.] Railways Act 1993, or

(ii) by virtue of any other enactment or statutory instrument, in consequence of anything so done,

to be in the employment of a person falling within sub-paragraph (i) or, as the case may be, sub-paragraph (ii) or (iii) of sub-paragraph (1)(a) above;

(b) he is not in the employment of any person engaged in the railway industry; or

(c) the continuity of the period of his employment is broken.

(3) Subsection (6) of section 141 of the Taxes Act 1988 shall, if and so long as the conditions in sub-paragraph (4) below are satisfied, have effect in relation to a transport voucher provided for an eligible person, notwithstanding—

(a) that the employer of the eligible person does not fall to be regarded as a passenger transport undertaking;

(b) that the arrangements under which the transport voucher is provided were not in operation on 25th March 1982; or

(c) that the passenger transport services which may be obtained by means of the transport voucher are provided, in whole or in part, otherwise than as mentioned in paragraphs (a) to (d) of that subsection;

but this sub-paragraph is subject to sub-paragraph (2) above.

(4) The conditions mentioned in sub-paragraph (3) above are—

(a) that the eligible person is in the employment of an employer engaged in the railway industry;

(b) that the transport voucher is provided by reason of the eligible person’s being in the employment of such an employer;

(c) that the transport voucher is intended to enable the eligible person or a relation of his to obtain passenger transport services; and

(d) that the current transport voucher benefits in the case of the eligible person are not significantly better than the former transport voucher benefits for comparable employees.

(5) The Secretary of State may, with the consent of the Treasury, by order prescribe for any purposes of this paragraph circumstances—

(a) in which a person who ceases, or ceased, as mentioned in sub-paragraph (2)(a) above to be in the employment there mentioned shall be treated—

(i) as if he had not ceased to be in that employment, or

(ii) as if he had not so ceased to be in that employment;

(b) in which a person shall be treated for a period during which he is not or was not in the employment of any person engaged in the railway industry as if he were or had been in the employment of such a person;

(c) in which a break in the continuity of a person’s period of employment shall be disregarded; or

(d) in which a transport voucher shall be treated as if it were, or had been, provided for a person by reason of his being in the employment of an employer engaged in the railway industry.

(6) The employers who are to be regarded for the purposes of this paragraph as “engaged in the railway industry” are those who carry on activities of a class or description specified for the purposes of this sub-paragraph in an order made by the Secretary of State with the consent of the Treasury; and the Secretary of State may so specify any class or description of activity which, in his opinion, falls within, or is related to or connected with, the railway industry.

(7) Any power to make an order under this paragraph shall be exercisable by statutory instrument; and a statutory instrument containing such an order shall be subject to annulment pursuant to a resolution of the House of Commons.

(8) In determining for the purposes of sub-paragraph (4)(d) above whether the current transport voucher benefits in the case of an eligible person are not significantly better than the former transport voucher benefits for comparable employees, regard shall be had, in particular, to—

(a) the passenger transport services which may be, or (as the case may be) might have been, obtained by means of transport vouchers under the arrangements in question,

(b) whether, and (if so) the extent to which, free or concessionary travel is or (as the case may be) was available under those arrangements,

(c) the rate of any discount to the standard fare which is or (as the case may be) was available in the case of concessionary travel under those arrangements, and

(d) any limitations on the availability or use of transport vouchers under the arrangements in question.

(9) Apart from paragraph 18, so much of Schedule 13 to the [1978 c. 44.] Employment Protection (Consolidation) Act 1978 as has effect for the purpose of ascertaining whether any period of employment is continuous shall apply for the purposes of this paragraph as it applies for the purposes of that Act, except that, in the case of an employee—

(a) who is employed for less than sixteen hours, but for at least one hour, in any week, or

(b) whose relations with the employer are governed during the whole or part of a week by a contract of employment which normally involves employment for less than sixteen hours, but for at least one hour, weekly,

that Schedule shall so apply in relation to that employee and that week with the modifications in sub-paragraph (10) below.

(10) Those modifications are that the said Schedule 13 shall have effect—

(a) as if paragraph 3 provided for any week—

(i) during the whole or part of which the employee’s relations with the employer are governed otherwise than by a contract of employment which requires him to be employed for a minimum number of hours weekly, and

(ii) in which the employee is employed for one hour or more,

to count in computing a period of employment;

(b) as if paragraph 4 provided for any week during the whole or part of which the employee’s relations with the employer are governed by a contract of employment which normally involves employment for at least one hour, but for less than sixteen hours, weekly to count in computing a period of employment; and

(c) as if paragraphs 5 to 7 and, in paragraphs 9, 10 and 15, the references to paragraph 5, were omitted.

(11) Expressions used in sub-paragraph (9) or (10) above and in Schedule 13 to the [1978 c. 44.] Employment Protection (Consolidation) Act 1978 have the same meaning in that sub-paragraph as they have in that Schedule.

(12) In this paragraph—

• “the current transport voucher benefits”, in the case of an eligible person, means the totality of the benefits which, by reason of his employment by an employer engaged in the railway industry, are available in the year in question—

  (a)

  to the eligible person, and

  (b)

  to relations of his,

  by way of transport voucher under the arrangements under which the transport voucher in question is provided;

• “the former transport voucher benefits for comparable employees”, in the case of an eligible person, means the totality of the benefits which would, by reason of the employment by the Board of a person of similar status to the eligible person (“the comparable person”), have been available in the year 1993-94—

  (a)

  to the comparable person, and

  (b)

  to relations of his,

  by way of transport voucher under arrangements in operation on 25th March 1982.

(13) Subject to paragraph 1(1) and sub-paragraphs (11) and (12) above, expressions used in this paragraph and in section 141 of the Taxes Act 1988 have the same meaning in this paragraph as they have in that section.

(14) This paragraph has effect—

(a) in relation to transport vouchers received by an employee on or after 11th January 1994; and

(b) in relation to expense incurred on or after that date in, or in connection with, the provision of—

(i) any transport voucher, or

(ii) the money, goods or services for which it is capable of being exchanged,

irrespective of when the transport voucher falls to be regarded as received by the employee in question.