Private ruling: Loyalty bonus and genuine redundancy payment
Published: October 2012
Ruling period: For the year ended 30 June 2013 | This scheme commenced on | 1 July 2012

Ruling: Q1: Is any part of the payments described as redundancy pay and loyalty bonus to be made on the termination of employment a tax-free part of a genuine redundancy payment (GRP) in accordance with section 83-170 of the Income Tax Assessment Act 1997 (ITAA 1997)? | A1: Yes.

Relevant facts and circumstances: Over 10 years ago, you commenced full-time employment with an employer (the Employer). Your current position includes specific duties. Towards the end of the relevant calendar year, the Employer advised that as a result of a restructure, they had determined that the particular collection of functions, duties and responsibilities attached to your position would no longer exist. Therefore, your position will become redundant and the Employer anticipated that the last day of your employment will be early in the subsequent calendar year. The Employer advised that as part of the review process, they had identified priorities crucial to the transitional stage over approximately the next 12 months and their main priority is retention of key team members during this time. In order to achieve this, the Employer made an offer of a one-off loyalty bonus payment equivalent to a number of months salary to retain your employment up to the estimated completion date. Your normal employment salary would be maintained until your completion date. On the completion date, a redundancy payment of a number of weeks pay based on your period of continuous service would also be made. The loyalty bonus payment and the redundancy payment are payable on your completion date and contingent upon the successful completion of current projects and your continued employment with the Employer until that time. However, the end date for this project may change and the project may be delayed or may be completed earlier than expected. Furthermore, the Employer advised a number of conditions which applied in order for you to be eligible to receive the loyalty payment on your estimated completion date and stated: 1. Both the loyalty payment and redundancy payment are payable on your Completion Date and are contingent upon the successful completion of current projects, and your continued employment with [the Employer] until this time. The end date for this project may change and the project may be delayed or may be completed earlier than expected. [The Employer] will undertake to ensure you are given as much notice as possible of any variation to your current estimated Completion Date. 2. Until your completion date, you continue to be subject to the same terms and conditions of your employment agreement. You will be expected to continue to meet all relevant key performance indicators, which will be managed and monitored in the ordinary course; 3. Until your completion date, you will take all reasonable steps to protect and maintain all confidential information and intellectual property of [the Employer] to which you are exposed throughout the course of your continued employment. Early in the subsequent calendar year, the Employer amended your termination date and advised that they anticipate your last day of employment will now be a date late in the subsequent calendar year. On the new completion date and termination of employment you will receive a loyalty bonus and a redundancy pay. The Employer recently advised your completion date will now occur a month earlier. On voluntary resignation or retirement you are entitled to receive unused accrued long service leave and unused annual leave. There was no date prior to your 65 th birthday when you were required to cease employment. At the time of termination there were no arrangements between yourself and the employer or any other person to employ you after your termination of employment. You have reached preservation age and under the age of 65 years.

Relevant legislative provisions: Income Tax Assessment Act 1997 Section 83-175. | Income Tax Assessment Act 1997 Subsection 83-175(1). | Income Tax Assessment Act 1997 Subsection 83-175(2). | Income Tax Assessment Act 1997 Paragraph 83-175(2)(a). | Income Tax Assessment Act 1997 Paragraph 83-175(2)(b). | Income Tax Assessment Act 1997 Paragraph 83-175(2)(c). | Income Tax Assessment Act 1997 Subsection 83-175(3). | Income Tax Assessment Act 1997 Subsection 83-175(4). | Income Tax Assessment Act 1997 Section 995-1.

Reasons for decision: Summary: The redundancy pay and loyalty bonus payment to be made on the termination of the employment are considered to be genuine redundancy payments as all the legislative conditions have been satisfied. The portion of the payment in excess of the tax-free amount is the taxable component of the employment termination payment and is to be included in your assessable income for the 2012-13 income year. | Detailed Reasoning - Genuine redundancy payment: To determine if any part of the payment you will receive from an employer (the Employer) constitutes a genuine redundancy payment (GRP), all the conditions in section 83-175 of the Income Tax Assessment Act 1997 (ITAA 1997) will need to be satisfied. Where a payment is made to an employee after 30 June 2007, a GRP is defined in subsection 83-175(1) of the ITAA 1997 as: so much of a payment received by an employee who is dismissed from employment because the employee's position is genuinely redundant as exceeds the amount that could reasonably be expected to be received by the employee in consequence of the voluntary termination of his or her employment at the time of the dismissal. Subsection 83-175(2) of the ITAA 1997 states that for a payment to qualify as a GRP all of the following conditions must be met: (a) the employee is dismissed before the earlier of the following: (i) the day he or she turned 65; (ii) if the employee's employment would have terminated when he or she reached a particular age or completed a particular period of service - the day he or she would reach the age or complete the period of service (as the case may be); (b) if the dismissal was not at arm's length - the payment does not exceed the amount that could reasonably be expected to be made if the dismissal were at arm's length; (c) at the time of the dismissal, there was no arrangement between the employee and the employer, or between the employer and another person, to employ the employee after the dismissal. In addition, subsection 83-175(3) of the ITAA 1997 provides that a GRP does not include any part of a payment that was received by the employee in lieu of superannuation benefits to which the employee may have become entitled at the time of the payment or at a later time. In addition, subsection 83-175(4) provides that a payment is not a GRP if it is a payment mentioned in section 82-135. The Commissioner has issued Taxation Ruling TR 2009/2 which outlines the Commissioner's view of the requirements to be satisfied for a payment to qualify as a genuine redundancy payment under section 83-175 of the ITAA 1997. It is proposed to examine each of these provisions. | Detailed Reasoning - The requirement under subsection 83-175(1) of the ITAA 1997: The first requirement which is specified in subsection 83-175(1) of the ITAA 1997 has three criteria: · the payment is received by an employee who is dismissed from employment; · the employee is dismissed because the employee's position is genuinely redundant; and · the payment exceeds the amount that could reasonably be expected to be received by the employee in consequence of the voluntary termination of his or her employment at the time of the dismissal. | Detailed Reasoning - Dismissal from employment: The first criterion is that there has been a dismissal from employment, which usually means that the termination of employment is involuntary on the part of the employee concerned and is instigated by the employer. According to the facts, your employment is being terminated by your employer as the Employer has determined your position is no longer required due to a restructuring of the organisation. To assist in facilitating the restructure the Employer identified priorities crucial to the transitional stage and their main priority is retention of key team members during this time. In order to achieve this, the Employer made an offer of a one-off loyalty bonus payment to retain your employment up to the anticipated completion date early in the subsequent calendar year which was later estimated to be late in the subsequent calendar year. The Employer has recently advised that your completion date will now be a month earlier. The termination of your employment is clearly a dismissal for the purposes of subsection 83-175(1) of the ITAA 1997, because your employment is being terminated at the instigation of the employer due to a restructuring of the organisation. Therefore, it is considered that you have satisfied the first criterion under subsection 83-175(1) in this instance. | Detailed Reasoning - Genuine redundancy: Having established that there will be a dismissal from employment for the purposes of subsection 83-175(1) of the ITAA 1997, the next criterion that needs to be considered is whether you were dismissed because your position is genuinely redundant. Redundancy is a situation where the dismissal of an employee is not caused by any consideration peculiar to the employee. Redundancy does not extend to a situation where an employee is dismissed for personal or disciplinary reasons or because the employee was inefficient, but rather because an employer no longer requires employees to carry out work of a particular kind or to carry out work of a particular kind at the same location. At paragraph 27 of TR 2009/2 the following comment is made: … if an employer decides after downsizing or some other structural reorganisation to terminate an employee, the former position of the employee is redundant as long as the downsizing or reorganisation is the prevailing or most influential cause of the termination. As stated in the facts the Employer advised, in a letter towards the end of the relevant calendar year, that as a result of the company restructuring its organisation your duties and responsibilities that are attached to your position will no longer exist. Therefore your position will become redundant and your last day of employment, the estimated completion date, would be early in the subsequent calendar year. Early in the subsequent calendar year, the Employer amended your completion date and advised that they anticipated that your last day of employment will now be approximately a date late in the subsequent calendar year. On the estimated completion date and termination of employment you will receive a loyalty bonus and a redundancy pay. The Employer has now confirmed your completion date will be a month earlier that the previous estimated completion date. The termination of your employment will not be on account of any personal act or default on your part, and will not be due to the ordinary and customary turnover of labour. Rather the Employer no longer requires anyone to perform the job you had been doing. Therefore the Employer's decision to terminate your employment is due to a redundancy. Accordingly, it is considered that you have also satisfied the second criterion under subsection 83-175(1) of the ITAA 1997 in this instance. The payment exceeds what you would have received in consequence of the voluntary termination of your employment at the time of your dismissal The third criterion that needs to be considered is whether the payment exceeds the amount that you could reasonably be expected to receive in consequence of the voluntary termination of your employment will be treated as a genuine redundancy payment. | Detailed Reasoning - The meaning of the phrase 'in consequence of': The phrase 'in consequence of' is not defined in the ITAA 1997. However, the courts have interpreted the phrase in a number of cases. Whilst the courts have divergent views on the meaning of this phrase, the Commissioner's view on the meaning and application of the in consequence of test are set out in Taxation Ruling TR 2003/13 entitled ' Income tax: eligible termination payments (ETP): payments made in consequence of the termination of any employment: meaning of the phrase in consequence of ' . While TR 2003/13 considered the meaning of the phrase 'in consequence of' in the context of eligible termination payments under the Income Tax Assessment Act 1936 (ITAA 1936), TR 2003/13 can still be relied upon as both the former provision under the ITAA 1936 and the current provision under the ITAA 1997 both use the term 'in consequence of' in the same manner. As previously noted, eligible termination payments ceased to exist from 1 July 2007, being replaced by employment termination payments. In paragraph 5 of TR 2003/13 the Commissioner states: …a payment is made in respect of a taxpayer in consequence of the termination of the employment of the taxpayer if the payment follows as an effect or result of the termination. In other words, but for the termination of employment, the payment would not have been made to the taxpayer. In paragraph 6 of TR 2003/13, the Commissioner recognises that: The phrase requires a causal connection between the termination and the payment, although the termination need not be the dominant cause of the payment. The question of whether a payment is made in consequence of the termination of employment will be determined by the relevant facts and circumstances of each case. The phrase in consequence of termination of employment has been interpreted by the courts in several cases. Of note are the decisions made by the High Court in Reseck v. Federal Commissioner of Taxation 1 ( Reseck ) and the Full Federal Court in McIntosh v Federal Commissioner of Taxation 2 ( McIntosh ). Both Courts views were that for a payment to be made in consequence of the termination of employment it had to follow on as a result or effect of the termination of employment. Additionally, while it is not necessary to show that termination of employment is the sole or dominant cause, a temporal sequence alone would not be sufficient. Therefore, if the payment follows as an effect or a result from the termination of employment, the payment will be made in consequence of the termination of employment. There is also a broader view of the meaning of 'in consequence of the termination of employment'. Paragraph 29 of TR 2003/13 provides that a payment will be in consequence of the termination of employment if the termination is either a cause of the payment or an antecedent event. Furthermore, in Taxation Board of Review Case No M 101/1976 3 the No. 2 Board of Review considered whether a production completion bonus was made in consequence of termination of employment. The facts of the case were that on the day he was retrenched, the taxpayer received a production completion bonus of $2,750 from his employer. In a letter to the Deputy Commissioner, the taxpayer's former employer explained that the bonus payment was designed as an incentive to keep the employee on a particular project until he was no longer needed. Payment of the bonus was conditional on the employee remaining on the job until retrenched. The taxpayer gave evidence that had he resigned at any time before the retrenchment date he would have received no part of the bonus. The No. 2 Board of Review held that the payment constituted an allowance or compensation paid in a lump sum in consequence of the termination of the taxpayer's employment within the meaning of former paragraph 26(d) of the ITAA 1936 (the precursor to the ETP provisions). In making the decision the judgement of the majority of the Full High Court in Reseck was followed. The question of whether a payment is made in consequence of the termination of employment will be determined by the relevant facts and circumstances of each case. The circumstances of the present case are almost identical to the circumstances in Case No M 101/1976 considered by the No 2 Board of Review. In the facts of this case, the Employer has advised that, as a result of a restructure, your position will become redundant. The Employer originally anticipated that the last day of your employment would be approximately early in the subsequent calendar year. The Employer advised that as part of the review process, they had identified priorities crucial to the transitional stage over approximately the next 12 months and their main priority is the retention of key team members during this time. In order to achieve this, the Employer made an offer of a one-off loyalty bonus payment to retain your employment up to the estimated completion date. In addition you were entitled to receive redundancy pay. The Employer advised a number of conditions that would apply and confirmed that both the loyalty payment and the redundancy pay which were re-calculated and payable on your completion date and termination of employment which was later estimated to be late in the subsequent calendar year. The Employer has now confirmed your completion date will be a month earlier that the previous estimated completion date. It is clear from the facts provided that the payment of the redundancy pay and the loyalty bonus will be made to you on the termination of your employment with the Employer on the completion date late in the subsequent calendar year. Therefore, the payment is made as 'in consequence of' your termination of employment. As such, there is a direct causal connection between the termination of employment and the making of the payment. The termination of employment and the payment are all intertwined and connected. If not for the termination of employment on the completion date of late in the subsequent calendar year the payment will not be made. In particular, the payment of the loyalty payment is conditional on you remaining in employment with the Employer until the completion date of late in the subsequent calendar year. It is considered that there is sufficient nexus between the making of the payment and the termination of employment to say that the payment is being made in consequence of your termination of employment. The Commissioner considers that it is necessary to show how the amount an employee is entitled to be paid exceeds the amount that is payable to employees who voluntarily terminate their employment. Paragraphs 61 to 63 of TR 2009/2 state: 61. It would generally be expected that a greater amount would be paid on redundancy than voluntary termination. This recognises the purpose of redundancy payments, being primarily to compensate for loss of non-transferable entitlements (for example accrued sick leave and accrued long service leave prior to 10 years service) and the peculiar hardship associated with being made redundant. 62. Contractual or other entitlements payable by an employer on voluntary termination are generally a sound guide as to what might reasonably be expected. However, this would be less so if the employer and employee are not dealing at arm's length. 63. There may be industry norms that could be used as a guide as to what payments would be made on voluntary termination. It may also be appropriate to compare standard payments made on voluntary termination within a particular company. However, these comparisons must take account of the actual nature of the dealings as influenced by the relationship between the parties. You were entitled to only an amount of accrued annual leave and long service leave had you resigned or retired from your employment. The payment of both the redundancy payment and the loyalty payment is to be made on the termination of your employment on the completion date of late in the subsequent calendar year due to your role being abolished. The payment is paid in circumstances of genuine redundancy, and is in excess of the amount that could reasonably be expected to be received by a worker in consequence of voluntary termination. According to the facts, your will receive a redundancy payment and loyalty bonus payment. It is accepted that the total payment exceeds the amount you could reasonably expect to receive if you had resigned or retired from employment in the position you held at the time of the dismissal. Therefore, it is considered that you have satisfied the third criterion under subsection 83-175(1) of the ITAA 1997 in this instance. | Detailed Reasoning - Conclusion: All the criteria stipulated in subsection 83-175(1) of the ITAA 1997 have been satisfied. Consequently it is considered that the redundancy payment and loyalty bonus payment constitutes a GRP within the meaning of subsection 83-175(1) of the ITAA 1997. However, a GRP must also satisfy the conditions in subsections 83-175(2) to 83-175(4). | Detailed Reasoning - The requirements under paragraphs 83-175(2)(a) and (b) of the ITAA 1997: As already noted previously, paragraph 83-175(2)(a) of the ITAA 1997 prescribes that the employee must be dismissed before the earlier of: · the day he or she turned 65; or · if the employee's employment would have terminated when he or she reached a particular age or completed a particular period of service - the day he or she would reach the age or complete the period of service (as applicable). It is accepted that there was no date prior to your 65 th birthday on which you were required to terminate employment, and that you were not required to terminate employment before you were dismissed on the effective date. Also given that you were under 65 years of age at the time of your dismissal, you have satisfied the requirements of paragraph 83-175(2)(a) of the ITAA 1997. Additionally, it is accepted that all dealings between yourself and the Employer were at arm's length. Therefore it follows that you have also satisfied the requirement under paragraph 83-175(2)(b) of the ITAA 1997. | Detailed Reasoning - The requirement under paragraph 83-175(2)(c) of the ITAA 1997: Also as noted previously, paragraph 83-175(2)(c) of the ITAA 1997 requires that at the time of the dismissal, there was no arrangement between the employee and the employer, or between the employer and another person, to employ the employee after the dismissal. In the present case, there was no re-employment by your Employer or evidence of any re-employment arrangement with another entity, so it is accepted that you have satisfied the requirement under paragraph 83-175(2)(c) of the ITAA 1997 in this case. | Detailed Reasoning - The requirements under subsections 83-175(3) and 83-175(4) of the ITAA 1997: Subsection 83-175(3) of the ITAA 1997 provides that a GRP does not include any part of a payment that is received in lieu of superannuation benefits. No part of the payment to be made to you is in lieu of superannuation benefits. Therefore it is accepted that the requirement under subsection 83-175(3) is satisfied. Also as noted previously, subsection 83-175(4) of the ITAA 1997 provides that a payment is not a GRP if it is a payment mentioned in section 82-135 (other than paragraph 82-135(e) which refers to a GRP or early retirement scheme payment). Section 82-135 of the ITAA 1997 includes payments such as pensions, foreign termination payments, unused annual leave and unused long service leave. An examination of the redundancy payment and loyalty bonus payment to be made to you shows that the requirement in subsection 83-175(4) of the ITAA 1997 has been satisfied. | Detailed Reasoning - A GRP under sections 83-170 and 83-175 of the ITAA 1997: You have satisfied all the criteria set out in section 83-175 of the ITAA 1997 and consequently it is considered that the redundancy payment and loyalty bonus payment constitutes a GRP for the purposes of section 83-170. | Detailed Reasoning - Tax-free treatment of a GRP: Subsection 83-170(2) of the ITAA 1997 provides that so much of the GRP that does not exceed the amount worked out using the formula prescribed in subsection 83-170(3) is not assessable income and is not exempt income. Any amount in excess of the tax-free amount is taxed as an employment termination payment. The formula for working out the tax-free amount is: Base amount + (Service amount × Years of service) Because your dismissal will occur during the 2012-13 income year, the base amount will be $8,806 and the service amount will be $4,404. The amount calculated under the formula in accordance with subsection 83-170(3) of the ITAA 1997, is the tax-free amount of a GRP you can receive in the 2012-13 income year. This amount is the tax-free amount which is not assessable income and is not exempt income under subsection 83-170(2). The remaining amount is a taxable component of an employment termination payment. | Detailed Reasoning - Tax Treatment of the employment termination payment: An employment termination payment will be comprised of the following components: · Tax free component this includes the pre-July 83 segment (if any) and/or the invalidity segment (if any); and · Taxable component the amount remaining after deducting the tax free component from the total payment. In your case, there is no tax free component. The amount in excess of the tax free limit is the taxable component of the employment termination payment and is to be included in your assessable income for the 2012-13 income year (subsection 82-10(2) of the ITAA 1997). As this amount is under the employment termination payment cap of $175,000 for the 2012-13 income year, and you have reached preservation age, it will be taxed at 15% plus Medicare levy. The taxable components of all life benefit employment termination payments received in an income year are counted towards this cap. Any tax-free amounts are not counted towards the cap. The portion of the payment in excess of the tax-free amount is the taxable component of the employment termination payment and is to be included in your assessable income for the 2012-13 income year. | Detailed Reasoning - Unused annual leave and accrued long service leave payments: You have advised that on termination of employment you are entitled to receive a payment of unused annual leave and unused long service leave. These payments are to be included in your assessable income for the 2012-13 income year and will be taxed at the marginal rate. However, as these payments will be made in connection with a genuine redundancy you are entitled to a tax offset to ensure that the rate of tax for these payments do not exceed 30% plus Medicare levy.

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