Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, if he will make an assessment of the potential merits of waiving HMRC rules on benefit in kind for the provision of police housing in areas with low availability of public housing.

Where an employer provides living accommodation to an employee it is usually taxable as a benefit in kind. Accommodation can be provided exempt from tax, providing it meets these conditions:

• employees cannot do their work properly without it, for example agricultural workers living on farms;
• an employer is usually expected to provide accommodation for people doing that type of work (for example a manager living above a pub, or a vicar looking after a parish);
• accommodation is provided to protect an employee because the type of work they do means there’s a special threat to their security.

HMRC has published guidance that covers which occupations are customary and therefore satisfy an exemption from tax.

The tax rules for employer provided accommodation apply to the whole of the UK and are consistent across different employers. This ensures the UK tax system is simple, easy to understand, and limits the risk of abuse.

The government has no plans to make changes but, keeps all taxes under review.