Q. I’ve just been told I’m being made redundant by my employer, but they have agreed to a significant settlement agreement. My employment will continue for three months and after that they’ve agreed to pay one month of salary (still on the payroll in that time) and then the equivalent of four months of my salary (tax free), which equates to £32,450. How much in the way of tax will I be hit with?
A: There are a few things to think about here when working out any tax liability in the circumstances of a redundancy payment. Firstly, you’ll remain on payroll and work for three months, from what you’ve said. So, you will carry on paying tax and National Insurance in the usual way on those three months of salary payments. Nothing changes there. That’s also the case for the one month of salary at the end of your termination that you mentioned. You’ll also pay tax and National Insurance on any holiday pay and bonuses.
You haven’t mentioned entering into a restrictive covenant (meaning you can’t work for a competitor or have contact with customers for a period of time after you leave). However, if that did apply in your case, tax and NI would also apply to payments you receive for agreeing to enter a restrictive covenant. If you get any payments in lieu of working your notice period, those will also be subject to tax and NI.
Moving on to the ‘severance’ payment or lump sum (£32,450) that you say your employer has agreed to pay. The good news is that most of this covered by a tax-free amount of £30,000. That figure includes statutory redundancy, additional severance or enhanced redundancy (the bit which is most applicable to you) and other non-cash benefits (for example, a company car) you keep after leaving. So, in your case, only £2,450 will be applicable for taxation.
