Termination payments, specifically a payment in lieu of notice, were considered in the recent First-tier tribunal case of Kayne Harrison v HM Revenue & Customs.
Mr Harrison had been dismissed on 16 February 2006 without written notice and had successfully won a small amount of compensation from an Employment tribunal.
Three days after he was dismissed, his employers made a termination payment, consisting of a payment in lieu of notice. This termination payment was made in line with the terms of his employment contract. Mr Harrison argued that as his position was terminated without written notice, the payment was not contractual as it had been made in circumstances outside of his contract. He believed that the findings of the Employment tribunal backed up this belief.
The tribunal found that Mr Harrison’s interpretation of the Employment Tribunal was incorrect in that they found the payment in lieu of notice had been made in accordance with the contract. Despite the issues raised at the Employment Tribunal, Mr Harrison’s employment had ended on 16 February 2006 and the payment had been made in accordance with his contract.
HMRC were therefore correct to argue that the payment was taxable and the tribunal dismissed Mr Harrison’s appeal.