Employers’ Liability for National Insurance contributions
Section 3 – Agreements and joint elections: Great Britain
54.Subsection (1) provides for the following amendments to Schedule 1 to the CBA 1992.
55.Subsection (2) extends the scope of paragraph 3A of Schedule 1 to the CBA 1992 in relation to agreements entered into between employers and their employees. These allow employers to recover secondary Class 1 National Insurance contributions from their employees in respect of post-acquisition income from both restricted and convertible securities. Subsection (2) also inserts sub-paragraph (2A) which introduces a condition to the use of agreements; namely, that such agreements may not be used in respect of relevant employment income if the market value of the securities from which that income derives has been artificially depressed.
56.The term “artificially depressed market value” is used in the title of Chapter 3A of Part 7 of ITEPA 2003 (as substituted by Schedule 22 to the Finance Act 2003). That Chapter applies in certain cases where the market value of employment-related securities (or other relevant securities or interests in securities) is reduced by things done otherwise than for genuine commercial purposes. The following are among the things that are, for the purposes of Chapter 3A of Part 7 of ITEPA 2003, done otherwise than for genuine commercial purposes:
anything done as part of a scheme or arrangement the main purpose, or one of the main purposes, of which is the avoidance of tax or National Insurance contributions; and
any transaction between companies which are members of the same group on terms which are not such as might be expected to be agreed between persons acting at arm’s length (other than a payment for group relief).
57.Subsection (2) also inserts sub-paragraph (2B) (to paragraph 3A of Schedule 1 to the CBA 1992) which defines “relevant employment income” in three ways:
an amount that counts as employment income of the earner under section 426 of ITEPA (restricted securities: charge on certain post-acquisition events), as amended by Schedule 22 of the Finance Act 2003;
an amount that counts as employment income of the earner under section 438 of ITEPA (convertible securities: charge on certain post-acquisition events), as amended by Schedule 22 of the Finance Act 2003;
a gain that is treated as remuneration derived from the earner’s employment by virtue of section 4(4)(a) of the CBA 1992, as consequentially amended by Schedule 22 of the Finance Act 2003. This section treats as earnings gains from securities options.
58.Subsection (3) amends paragraph 3B of Schedule 1 to the CBA 1992 in order to extend the joint National Insurance contributions election facility to include relevant employment income that is derived from restricted or convertible securities (by virtue of post-acquisition chargeable events only). Further changes are made to ensure that a joint election may not be used with respect to relevant employment income if the market value of the securities from which that income derives has been artificially depressed. Subsection (3) also provides that a joint National Insurance contributions election in respect of relevant employment income from restricted or convertible securities may not be applied to any contributions in respect of a payment of relevant employment income made before the election is entered into.
59.Subsection (4) provides that the amendments made by this section will apply to agreements and elections entered into after the date of commencement of this section in respect of relevant employment income which counts as employment income after commencement of the section.
60.Subsection (5) defines “post-commencement employment income”, for the purposes of subsection (4), as amounts of relevant employment income which, after the date of commencement of this section, count as employment income.