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Remuneration planningRemuneration Planning

Remuneration and reward is not solely the realm of taxation. How you shape and manage reward is arguably far more important than any potential tax savings. Giving employees tax efficient shares, for example, when they prize cash more highly, or vice versa, can be counterproductive.

Remuneration is the biggest cost for most businesses and therefore all the more important that the maximum return is received for such a major investment.

Unless we are dealing with a business owner, the focus is generally a combination of attracting, retaining and incentivising key individuals – whether that is the executive or your whole workforce.

Harbour Key has people with a wealth of experience and knowledge in this sector, in addition to mainstream tax and social security knowledge.

The core areas we can help your business with are as follows:

  • Reward strategy
  • Executive reward – including Long-Term Incentive Plans (“LTIPs”)
  • International assignments – UK inbound and outbound
  • Employee share plans – see below
  • Bonus plan design
  • Total reward statements – letting employees understand the value of their package
  • Flexible benefits and salary sacrifice – reducing tax and cost effective benefits
  • Extracting money into pension arrangements
  • Income extraction or investment of gross funds for owner-managers
  • Corporate structure – company, partnerships (including LLPs) or being self-employed

Taxation and social security will always be a major influencer on such arrangements particularly where the focus is on reducing the wage bill or mitigating a particularly penal rate, e.g. UK income tax at 50% or French employer’s social security in excess of 50%.

Harbour Key is here to help you design, implement and communication the reward structure that will help your business progress.

Employee share plans

Share plans and options plans which are approved by H M Revenue & Customs provide a high degree of tax efficiency for both the employer and employee. Where HMRC plans are unavailable, because of the various qualifying criteria, or where such plans do not suit a business, there is a raft of bespoke plans available to suit.
Please click here for an overview of the more common plans adopted by companies.

Employees inbound to and outbound from the UK

Often referred to as “expatriates” or “expats”, we work with both individuals and companies to provide planning, assurance and practical services in this field. Tax compliance is just one aspect of any international assignment and we at Harbour Key pull together a number of complimentary services to enable people to get on with their work and lives. As an example, this may include:

  • Remuneration planning
  •  Social security assurance
  •  Visas
  •  Sourcing local advisers (tax, accounting, legal) in a non-UK jurisdiction
  •  Sourcing housing and school providers
  •  Non-resident landlord tax breaks (UK)
  •  Payroll
  •  Expatriate policies
  •  Arrival/departure formalities
  •  Double-tax treaty claims.

Click here to see our factsheet