REBA Inside Track: Can we make energy-savings benefits tax-free?

There are a growing group of employee benefits people – both employers and providers – who believe the government should be taking a closer look at tax breaks on employee benefits that reduce energy use and support environmental objectives.

 

Just as workplace benefits such as pension contributions or cycle-to-work schemes help to achieve government and societal objectives, surely benefits which help reduce carbon emissions need looking at by the powers at be? 

A group of organisations are coming together to sign an open letter to government on this topic. 

Spearheaded by TalkTalk and Big Clean Switch, they are looking for employers keen to align with these environmental aims, to add their signatures to the open letter.

Anyone who attended REBA’s Future Forum in November 2022 will recall how our Keynote Speaker, Ed Gillespie, stirred up the audience to rethink their pensions and employee benefits decisions related to climate, environment and CO2 emissions. Ed is the one who told me about this letter, and also reminded me that:

• decarbonisation of UK homes is critical to meeting our net zero goals
• UK homes currently face record energy bills that are unaffordable for even in-work households
• many employers are actively looking to support employees reduce their energy use, whether because of cost-of-living pressures or in line with their own net zero ambitions
• there is already a precedent for the UK government using benefit-in-kind and payroll tax incentives to accelerate take up of socially and economically positive actions
• we’re calling on government to apply the same types of incentives to employment-based energy support.

If you’d like to find out more before signing the letter, please feel free to email me.