Treasury committee welcomes decision to exempt coronavirus testing from income tax

HMRC has withdrawn guidance published on 6 July stating that employees will face a taxable benefit in kind when their employer pays for coronavirus testing.

The about-turn came in response to a letter from Mel Stride chair of the Treasury committee asking Rishi Sunak to look into this matter as soon as possible. He also raised the issue at Treasury questions.

The chancellor has responded saying that the government has reversed this decision and will introduce ‘a new income tax and National Insurance contributions exemption from income tax for employer-provided Covid-19 antigen tests’.

Mr Stride said: ‘It would not have been right to increase the tax bill for workers every time that they had a coronavirus test. I’m glad that common sense has prevailed. And I’m grateful that the chancellor has listened to the Treasury committee and reversed this decision so swiftly.’

Katharine Arthur...