Government Unveils Plans for Tax Breaks on Health Initiatives at Work

Plans to provide tax breaks on health initiatives at work were unveiled in Wednesday’s Budget in an attempt to address sickness absence.

Each year, over 130 million working days are lost due to sickness – estimated to cost the economy around £15 billion. The government announced plans to introduce a targeted tax relief so that amounts up to £500 paid by employers on health-related interventions are not treated as a taxable benefit in kind.

The government plans to establish the Health and Work Assessment and Advisory service to recommend health-related interventions to support employees to return to work following absence through sickness. Employers and employees who use the service will benefit from this relief, so long as the costs incurred by the employer do not exceed £500; the employer will have no reporting requirement and the employee will not incur an income tax charge.

The Government will consult on implementation later in 2013. If you need help managing health & safety at work, contact us.