Terms & Conditions

[RobBox]

Any help with this one would be appreciated.

Have a couple and the husband has started job as a solider.

He lives at home some of the week and in barracks the rest.

He earns a wage, but here is the bit I am not sure about, he has to pay the army a rent for the periods he is living in barracks. He thinks we should be able to deduct this amount from his earnings when calculating the HB.

Any ideas??

[Kevin D]

No deduction allowed. Nothing in the earnings regs, nor the Schedule allow this expense to be deducted. Er, at least not as far as I can see.

Regards

[Anonymous]

Unless…if he can get the MoD to deduct the rent direct from his wages, he could argue it is an expense wholly, exclusively and necessarily incurred…?

[RobBox]

Thanks

Next hurdle is that wife states he has now left home to go back to barracks full time and wants him to be removed from the assessment. They are not estranged (only got married 3 months ago) and not seperated so I would look to keep him in the assessment unit, but something in the back of my mind about non-deps that normally live at home but are away because in barracks should no longer be treated as living at home??

[Anonymous]

He’s her husband, not a non-dep

[RobBox]

very true

[RobBox]

Having now seen the pay slips it would appear that indeed this person has deductions direct from his pay for the rent charged for the barracks and also the meals that the army provide him with.

In this instance would we be able to allow these as expenses from earnings of a salaried employee???

[gerryg]

I don’t think you can disregard it as an expense.

35(2)(b) actually says that earnings do not include “any payment in respect of expenses wholly, exclusively and necessarily incurred…”

I read that as meaning the employer reimbursing the employee for expenses incurred while carrying out their job e.g. if you go on a course and have to buy lunch you claim it back.

Reg 36 and Schedule 4 are the ones that allow sums to be deducted from earnings and neither of those allow for this sort of deduction.

[Anonymous]

[quote:898c01a44b]Earnings shall not include…any payment in respect of expenses wholly, exclusively and necessarily incurred in the performance of the duties of the employment[/quote:898c01a44b]

Doesn’t actually say any payment [i:898c01a44b]made by the employer[/i:898c01a44b] does it? Tenuous, I grant you, but arguable…?

[gerryg]

Reg 35 is entitled “Earnings of employed earners” and lists what is counted as earnings.

Reg 36 is entitled “Calculation of net earnings of employed earners” and lists what can be taken away.

They are 2 distinct regulations for different purposes. If the deduction from his earnings was meant to be allowed the provision about expenses would be in reg 36 rather than reg 35.

[Anonymous]

Told you it was tenuous…

[Author]

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