Employer responsibility for tax and NICs on tips

The tax and NIC treatment of tips and whether they are the responsibility of the employer will depend on how they are paid to the recipient.

Cash tips handed to an employee, or say, left on the table at a restaurant and retained by the employee, are not subject to tax and NICs under PAYE, so there is no employer responsibility to keep track of them and deduct tax or NICs. The employee is however, obliged to declare the income to HMRC and pay the tax and NICs due.

By contrast, if the employer passes tips to employees that are either handed to him (or the employees) or left in a common box/plate by customers, the employer should take responsibility for operating PAYE on all such payments made. Tips will also be subject to PAYE if they are included in cheque and debit/credit card payments to the employer, or if they pass service charges to employees.

The obligation to operate PAYE remains with the employer where the employer:

• delegates the task of passing the tips or service charges between employees, for example to a head waiter in a restaurant; or
• passes tips/service charges to a tronc (see below), but the tronc is not a tronc for PAYE purposes.

Troncs

Where tipping is a usual feature of a business, there is often an organised arrangement for sharing tips amongst employees by a person who is not the employer. This type of arrangement is known as a ‘tronc’ and the person who is responsible for distributing the money is known as the ‘troncmaster’. Where a person accepts and understands the role of troncmaster, he or she may have to operate PAYE on payments made. Broadly, under such arrangements the employer must notify HMRC of the existence of a tronc created and provide HMRC with the troncmaster’s name.

There are no hard and fast rules regarding how a tronc should operate and HMRC will apply the PAYE and NIC rules to the particular circumstances of each tronc. Where payments made from a tronc attract NICs liability, responsibility for calculating the NICs due and making payment to HMRC rests with the employer. If a troncmaster is responsible for operating PAYE on monies passed to the tronc by the employer and has failed to fulfil his or her PAYE obligations, HMRC can direct the employer to operate PAYE on monies passed to the tronc from a specified date.

NICs

Legislation provides that any amount paid to an employee which is a payment ‘of a gratuity’ or is ‘in respect of a gratuity’ will be exempt from NICs if it meets either of the following two conditions:

• it is not paid, directly or indirectly, to the employee by the employer and does not comprise or represent monies previously paid to the employer, for example by customers; or
• it is not allocated, directly or indirectly, to the employee by the employer.

It is worthwhile for an employer to check they understand their responsibility for paying tax on tips and that their businesses treats tips and gratuities correctly. From time to time HMRC carry out reviews of employers’ records to make sure things are in order for PAYE, NICs and separately for the National Minimum Wage (NMW). Any errors in tax and NICs treatment could prove costly.

You should always seek advice about your specific requirements before you act. Speak to one of our experts on 0161 476 9000 or contact us here.