Benefits in Kind - Benefit Component Dates vs Benefit Availability Dates

There are two distinct levels of dates that affect benefit processing:

  1. Benefit Component Start Date that determines whether the benefit component is active and eligible to be evaluated in the payroll period.
  2. Benefit Start Date (Available From Date) that determines when the employee becomes entitled to the benefit for tax purposes.

These dates are evaluated independently.

Benefit Start Date and Tax Year

When a benefit component is active in the payroll period, the payroll process will evaluate the benefit start date independently of the payroll period dates.

If the benefit start date (available from date) falls within the same tax year as the payroll run, the benefit will be included for processing even if the benefit start date does not fall within the payroll period start and end dates. This ensures that benefits are taxed correctly for that tax year.

Example

  • Payroll period: 1 Mar 2026 – 28 Mar 2026
  • Tax year: 6 Apr 2025 – 5 Apr 2026
  • Component start date: 1 Mar 2026
  • Benefit available from date: 1 Apr 2026
  • Benefit available to date: 5 Apr 2026

Although the payroll period doesn't cover the full benefit availability window, the component is active in the payroll period and the benefit start date falls within the same tax year. As a result, the benefit will be included and processed in the payroll run for correct tax-year reporting.

Benefit Availability Dates (Future-Dated Benefits)

If a benefit start date is future-dated within the same tax year (that is, later than the payroll period end date), the benefit will still be processed and become taxable based on the component start date. This ensures that benefits commencing later in the tax year are correctly included for tax purposes once the component becomes active.

Ensures that taxable benefits are included for processing using the benefit's actual available from and to dates within a tax year even if these fall outside a payroll processing period of a tax year. It also ensures that any benefit that has an Available from Date that's in the future will be included for processing as of the component's effective start date. 

Steps to Enable and Configure

You don't need to do anything to enable this feature.