Posted By J Knight This is bizarre, never heard of the like. Have you contacted your local Inspectors for their opinion? I'm sure they would want to know about this if they don't already, John

Posted By Peter J Williams Good idea about leaving PPE behind, but are you going to provably check that a fitter has changed his underwear before leaving work? If the answer is YES, you are a braver man than me

Posted By Descarte Thats obviously a perk of the job.... ....Not the checking of the underware, but the taking of it home :p

Posted By Chris Packham How does HM Customs and Excise plan to deal with the worker who works away from the office and goes directly to where he is working that day wearing his safety shoes and with his PPE in his car? It would obviously be impracticable for the employer to check if he removes his shoes immediately on arriving home. Or should he travel in ordinary clothing and change when he arrives on site? (The thought of someone having to change into his thermal underwear in the customer's car park caused some amusement here!) Chris

Posted By Merv Newman My PPE always comes home with me. Always has done. In fact I encourage employees to take at least their safety shoes with them, and why not borrow a pair of leather gloves if you are going to be doing a bit of furniture moving or pruning the roses ? Safety is not just for work. It's for life. And for fun. I think you tax person has his or her knickers in a twist. Hope it makes their eyes water. Hey, I'm at home and still wearing my prescription (paid by the company) safety glasses. No shoes on at the moment though. Merv

Posted By Descarte Merv im hoping that you never work in a pharmaceutical environment for the safety or your family children or pets. oh or near asbestos, sensitisers, teratogens etc etc Good idea in principle taking safety gear home with you, just not a good idea in all situations. Whats that sensitising dust on you sleve, smells nice! and that pill that came out of the tread in your shoes, babies loving that, arg my wrist is burning oh that will be that chemical that splashed on you which you didnt notice, less we forget the amount of women sucumming to mesothelioma from just washing their husabands work gear!

Posted By Alan Nicholls Sec 9 of the H and S regs refers to any item required to perform your duties. HASWA also states that NO Employer shal levy or permit to be leviedon any employee of his,ANY CHARGE in respect of anything done or provided in persuance of any specific requirement of the relvant statutory provisions. The PPE regs I wonder.. Most manufacturing / engineering firms in my industry (Rail)provide showers,lockers for personal clothing, to store your ppe when you leave the site. So you dont take your work home with you. I don't know obout you guys but my work stays at work...Life is to short without all the nasty things that lurk around in the working environment. Best thing all round is lock it and leave it. They cant touch you for it. Alan N

Posted By Brett Day A local safety supplier company has started putting VAT on it's products as a result of recent tax changes, He was most indignanat and felt that this was a backwards step. Spoke to local tax office and yes it was confirmed. Personally think this is barking and yet another 'stealth' tax. My other thoughts would probably breach the AUG's here...

Posted By Dave Wilson Any PPE which is provided in the interest of safety has to be provided free of charge to the employee by the employer, if this now contains an element of VAT then I presume that the employer can claim back the VAT, if you are self emplyed then I think you can claim tax releif on the whole amount as necessary to undertake your work. Items provided by the employer to project the 'corporate image' is NOT classed as PPE, so uniforms etc do not qualify.

Posted By Chris Packham Diane Fine for those working in a static workplace, but how did you resolve the problem with the worker whose work is away from the main workplace, i.e. site engineers/maintenance personnel. They may travel directly to their place or work (or are peripatetic)? Obviously it could be impracticable for all such people to proceed to work via the main workplace, so inevitably their safety equipment (PPE) will be taken home. Such a person may have a van containing his equipment which he parks at home overnight. He would then dress for work at home, i.e. donning the appropriate safety shoes etc. Chris

Posted By Nick House Although this may not be possible for all, an employer can, I believe, take the option of 'paying the tax' on behalf of the employee. This will appear on an employee's salary/ wage slip as a 'tax paid' item.

Posted By Martyn Hendrie Technically if it is a benefit in kind the employer would record that on the employees P11D just as they do for a company car/ private medical insurance, etc. The tax man would then take the benefit into account if they check an employees self assessment form. Any payment would then normally be hidden by an adjustment in the following years tax coding. I must admit unless someone is issuing "designer" PPE it does seem a bit OTT.

Posted By Martyn Hendrie Ron, HM Revenue and Customs are now one and the same organisation. VAT on safety gear is not an issue for most businesses (other than the very small)as any VAT registered company they can claim back the VAT. Also, purchase of PPE is a legitimate business expence and can be claimed against profit for corporation tax purposes. The reason for raising the "benefit in kind issue" is because it is feasible that HMR&C would consider that an employee got a benefit from using equipment provided free by his/her employer outside the work environment. As such they gain a benefit in kind that may be taxable. The original posting was not clear on exactly what the tax issue was.

Posted By Tony Brunskill Amazing what you learn with "Google". The interesting bits from HMRC Website. For full details: http://customs.hmrc.gov....tyType=document#P28_1604 1.1 What is this notice about? This notice explains when: protective boots and helmets for industrial use are zero-rated – see section 2; motorcycle helmets are zero-rated – see section 3; pedal cycle helmets are zero-rated – see section 4; and children’s car seats and travel systems are reduced-rated at a rate of 5% VAT – see section 5. 1.2 Is any other protective equipment reduced or zero-rated? Not specifically. However certain protective clothing, headgear and footwear for young children may be zero-rated as young children’s clothing and footwear. Further information is in Notice 714 Zero rating young children’s clothing and footwear. 2. Protective boots and helmets for industrial use 2.1 How do protective boots and helmets qualify for zero-rating? They are zero-rated when all the following conditions are met: The articles must be boots or helmets They must be manufactured to the appropriate European or British standard They must bear a mark indicating conformity with those standards They must for industrial use They must not be supplied to persons for use by their employees 2.7 Who is the supply being made to? You cannot zero-rate supplies of protective boots or helmets to an employer for the use by their employees. Supplies from a manufacturer to a wholesaler who in turn supplies them to a retailer can be zero-rated subject to the conditions set out earlier in this notice. Supplies from an employer to an employee can also be zero-rated, subject to the conditions set out earlier in this notice.

Posted By AJM Well to start I work in company where you get a set amount of money for safety boots or shoes and if you go over that amount which 50% of them do you have they take the extra money out of your wages. I haven't yet but you would have to question the legalities of that. Something else that people should remember, because most are unaware of and I have often used as a PR exercise is when work clothing is used by the employee and washed by the employee he can actually claim that back through his tax and his code reduced. So I have got a few people some nice little back pay packages that has kept them on board with me. Alan

Posted By Descarte interesting to note "My umbrella company" has been seeking confirmation about claiming tax relief through Schedule E Expenses for Sundry items such as laptops, software and personal protection equipment that you may require for your work. It is now possible to claim for these items if you can provide original receipts and can show how the purchases support you in delivering your contract of employment. So now I am able to claim tax back not just VAT on PPE