Legislation – The Coronavirus Life Assurance Scheme (English and Welsh Schemes) (Excluded Benefits for Tax Purposes) Regulations 2020

These Regulations apply to a lump sum payment of £60,000 which is paid pursuant to either the National Health Service and Social Care Coronavirus Life Assurance (England) Scheme 2020 or the National Health Service and Social Care Coronavirus Life Assurance (Wales) Scheme 2020. The Regulations provide that the lump sum shall be exempted from the charge to tax on employer-financed benefits under section 394 of the Income Tax (Earnings and Pensions) Act 2003 (c. 1). The lump sum payment is an excluded benefit under section 393B(3)(d) of that Act and hence not a relevant benefit for the purposes of Chapter 2 of Part 6 of that Act.

Regulation 2 has retrospective effect so that the tax exemption it provides applies in relation to any payments made in the tax year 2020-21 or subsequent tax years.

A Tax Information and Impact Note has not been prepared for this instrument as it contains no substantive changes to tax policy.