Employees could be paying more tax than they should as a result of Brexit, according to tax advice firm Blick Rothenberg.
The firm stated a number of taxpayers could have paid too much tax because of the way HM Revenue & Customs handles tax charges for firms who have moved into a European Union-based jurisdiction in preparation for Brexit.
A move to a different jurisdiction prompts the company to technically change its name and therefore provokes a new tax assessment.
Blick Rothenberg stated employees caught in this process could have paid tax twice on work perks such as company cars: once as employees of the previous legal entity for which they worked, and then again for the new legal entity, despite the perk only having been received once.
Simon Rothenberg, a senior manager at the firm, said: "When companies restructure their operations due to financial difficulties or when preparing for Brexit, it is often required that employees move from being employed by one legal entity to another and their tax code is reissued at this time.
"We have seen a number of instances from large employers of any taxable benefits, such as health insurance or car allowances, being applied to both the old and new employment – this result in being taxed for double the amount.
"If the employee notices, this can be rectified by a call to HMRC and should also be picked up by HMRC following the completion of the tax year; it still leads to a cash out flow which could take over 12 months to recover."
A spokesman for HMRC said the tax office does not view this as an ongoing issue of any significance, but recognises that there are a limited number of circumstances in which too much tax could been paid in these circumstances.
david.thorpe@ft.com
