Following the ever-increasing popularity of salary sacrifice schemes, HMRC introduced new rules affecting OpRA in April 2017. While no reason was given for this, it seems likely that it was an attempt to mitigate the impact of such schemes on the Treasury’s revenues.

The complexity of the measures means employers must now give careful attention to how current benefits packages might affect their tax position. It is also important to get their calculations right or risk a potentially costly HMRC investigation.