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HMRC, WHICH IS THE LABOUR PARTY GOVERNMENT'S TAXMAN, WANTS TO SHAKE UP THE SALARY SACRIFICE SCHEME USED BY BOSSES WHICH COULD SEE STAFF LOSE OUT ON UP TO £560 A YEAR. 08:14, 31 May 2025

HMRC is exploring new tax rules which could cost UK households HUNDREDS. HMRC, which is the Labour Party government's taxman, wants to shake up the salary sacrifice scheme used by

bosses which could see staff lose out on up to £560 a year. Research paid for by HMRC and published yesterday reveals "hypothetical" plans to reduce the perk. A HMRC consultation

asked 51 firms to comment on three proposed changes to the way salary sacrifice works. The first removes the NI exemption for employers and employees, meaning workers and bosses would have

to pay NI on the salary sacrificed, costing them £560. The second includes removing both the NI exemption for employers and employees, and the income tax exemption for employees, on the

salary sacrificed. READ MORE UK SET TO SIZZLE IN 'GLORIOUS' 27C MINI-HEATWAVE WITH 33 COUNTIES IN ENGLAND HIT This would cost them £200. The third would involve removing the NI

exemption but only on salary sacrificed above a £2,000 per year threshold, costing £30 per worker. Article continues below These figures are correct for workers who earn £35,000. Steve Webb,

former Liberal Democrats pensions minister and partner at LCP pension consultants, said the research commissioned by HMRC suggested a "significant risk" of cuts in the upcoming

Autumn Budget. Mr Webb added: "It is very revealing that HMRC has paid for research into the likely response from employers if salary sacrifice for pensions were to be scaled back.

"Although the research was commissioned under the previous government, the desire to raise additional revenue is, if anything, even more acute today. Article continues below "With

a Chancellor reportedly looking to make up a multi-billion pound hole in the public finances in her Autumn Budget, this research suggests that changes to salary sacrifice are firmly on the

agenda, and likely to be considered as a potential revenue-raising measure." A Treasury spokesperson said: "These claims are totally speculative. HMRC regularly commissions

independent research on all aspects of the tax system. "We are committed to keeping taxes for working people as low as possible which is why, at last Autumn’s Budget, we protected

working people’s payslips and kept our promise to not raise the basic, higher or additional rates of Income Tax, employee National Insurance or VAT."