Ministers: Official Gifts
The question
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether HMRC policy requires Government Ministers to pay an income tax charge for political gifts given to them of (a) clothes, (b) glasses and (c) accommodation from party political donors.
Answered by James Murray
Ministers are employees for the purposes of Income Tax and National Insurance Contributions.
The normal rules for employment-related benefits apply to employment-related gifts, as set out in HMRC’s guidance at www.gov.uk/hmrc-internal-manuals/employment-income-manual/eim20020
There is an exemption for small gifts costing a total of £250 or less per year to provide, HMRC guidance can be found at https://www.gov.uk/hmrc-internal-manuals/employment-income-manual/eim21715
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