Althams Travel gave all of its staff a cost of living payment after putting in a plea to government to allow businesses to make discretionary, tax-free bonuses to employees.
All 220 of the company's staff received the one-off payment just over a week before Christmas.
After announcing her intentions at the recent managers conference, she held off on releasing the bonus until she heard back from the government. She wanted to give staff the full exemption from income tax and national insurance contributions.
When I saw what was happening down the line, I wanted businesses to be able to help their staff, even if it was just to give £200, without it being taxed. The plight of the travel trade in the Pandemic was the subject of a meeting between Sunak and McAllister.
She said that she got a lot of positive responses from the government. The chancellor of the exchequer wrote to me saying that they felt it would help those who didn't need it.
Hunt said in a letter that the Government remains committed to managing the public finances in a disciplined and responsible way. It's difficult to target tax reliefs in this way, they are of greatest benefit to those paying higher rates of tax, while low-earning individuals with income below the personal allowance would benefit less or not at all.
Increased taxes for other taxpayers or reducing expenditure on public services are likely to be used to pay for a new relief.
Some staff were brought to tears when they received the payment, as a result of the introduction of a four-day working week.
The staff were thrilled and really appreciated it, and I wanted to make sure they didn't have any problems with the cost of living over the next two to three months. I would have given more if I had the chance.
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