IT firm uses flex to simplify private fuel

Xansa has simplified its tax reporting process by offering private fuel through its flexible benefits scheme. Previously, employees could opt in and out of the benefit at any time and pay back what fuel they had not used at the end of each year. Jackie Radford, HR consultant at the IT firm, said that this made it difficult to trace which employees were using the benefit. "We found the admin of private fuel was becoming increasingly difficult. We were also concerned that we weren’t compliant with Inland Revenue regulations about the amount of time that people had to opt in and out of the scheme." Employees now have to decide whether they wish to take the benefit at the start of each tax year and no longer have the option of paying back what they do not use. She added: "[It] means the P11D team know who is going to be claiming during the year, which means that the P11D process is much smoother, [with better] compliance with the Inland Revenue regulations." Xansa has also revamped its flex scheme to enable staff to take advantage of the new government tax break on childcare vouchers. From April, employees will be able to select the number of vouchers they wish to take monthly rather than annually. They will also be able to do the same for retail vouchers. "We had to get Inland Revenue approval to change the flex scheme and [were forced to] relaunch [it]," said Radford.