RELEVANT TO ACCA QUALIFICATION PAPER F6 （UK）
　　2013 ACCA
　　Benefits
　　This article is relevant to those of you taking Paper F6 （UK） in either the June or
　　December 2013 sittings, and is based on tax legislation as it applies to the tax year
　　2012 3 （Finance Act 2012）。
　　Benefits feature regularly in the Paper F6 （UK） exam, although such questions are
　　generally not answered as well as would be expected. The article is not intended to
　　cover every aspect of benefits, but instead mainly covers those areas that are more
　　commonly examined. Motor cars are not covered as they are dealt with in a separate
　　article.
　　LIVING ACCOMMODATION
　　There are four aspects to consider:
　　The basic benefit is the annual value of the property. If the property is rented
　　then the basic benefit is the higher of the annual value and the amount of rent
　　paid.
　　There is an additional benefit if the property costs more than 5,000. This is
　　calculated as:
　?。–ost 5,000） x 4% （the official rate of interest）
　　Cost is the cost of the property plus any subsequent improvements. However,
　　where the property was purchased more than six years before first being
　　provided to the employee, then the cost figure is replaced by the market value
　　when first provided （again plus any subsequent improvements）。
　　If the employer pays for the running costs relating to the property then the
　　amount paid will also be a benefit.
　　If the employer has furnished the property, then the benefit for the use of the
　　furniture is based on 20% of its cost.
　　EXAMPLE 1
　　During the tax year 2012 3 Prop plc provided three of its employees with living
　　accommodation.
　　Alex has been provided with living accommodation since 1 January 2010. Prop plc
　　had purchased the property in 2009 for 60,000, and it was valued at 85,000 on
　　1 January 2010. Improvements costing 3,000 were made to the property during
　　June 2011. The annual value of the property is ,100.
　　Bess was provided with living accommodation from 1 January to 5 April 2013. The
　　property is rented by Prop plc at a cost of ,250 per month, and it has an annual
　　value of 0,400. On 1 January 2013 Prop plc purchased furniture for the property at
　　a cost of 6,200. The company pays for the running costs relating to the property,
　　and for the period 1 January to 5 April 2013 these amounted to ,900.
　　2
　　BENEFITS
　　JANUARY 2013
　　2013 ACCA
　　Chloe was provided with living accommodation on 6 April 2012, and she lived in the
　　property throughout the tax year 2012 3. The company had purchased the property
　　in 2003 for 9,000, and it was valued at 44,000 on 6 April 2012. The annual value
　　of the property is ,600.
　　Alex
　　The basic benefit is the annual value of ,100.
　　The living accommodation cost in excess of 5,000 so there is an additional
　　benefit. Since the property was not purchased more than six years before first
　　being provided to Alex, the benefit is based on the cost of the property plus
　　subsequent improvements. The additional benefit is therefore ,920 （98,000
　　（160,000 + 13,000 75,000） at 4%）。
　　Bess
　　The benefit is the rent paid of ,750 （2,250 x 3） since this is higher than the
　　annual value of ,600 （10,400 x 3/12）。
　　The benefit in respect of the furniture is 10 （16,200 x 20% x 3/12）。
　　The running costs of ,900 are also taxed as a benefit.
　　Chloe
　　The basic benefit is the annual value of ,600.
　　The living accommodation cost in excess of 5,000, so there is an additional
　　benefit. Since the property was purchased more than six years before first
　　being provided, the benefit is based on the market value when first provided.
　　The additional benefit is therefore ,760 （69,000 （144,000 75,000） at 4%）。
　　BENEFICIAL LOANS
　　There is a taxable benefit where an employee is provided with an interest free loan or
　　where the interest rate payable is below the official rate of interest of 4%. There are
　　two alternative methods of calculating the benefit:
　　The average method: The average is taken of the amount outstanding at the start of
　　the tax year （or when the loan was made if later） and at the end of the tax year （or
　　when the loan was repaid if earlier）。 The official rate of interest is then applied to this
　　average.
　　The strict method: The official rate of interest is applied to the amount outstanding on
　　a monthly basis.
　　If no repayments have been made during the tax year then both methods will produce
　　the same result.
　　The average method applies unless either the employee or HM Revenue and Customs
　?。℉MRC） elects for the strict method. In an exam context, both methods should be
　　calculated, even if one party will opt for the strict method. However, a question might
　　instruct you to just use the average method, since in reality HMRC only elect for the
　　strict method when it will make a significant difference.
　　3
　　BENEFITS
　　JANUARY 2013
　　2013 ACCA
　　EXAMPLE 2
　　During the tax year 2012 3 Rest Ltd provided three of its employees with loans.
　　Kim was provided with an interest free loan of 2,000 on 1 June 2012 so that she
　　could purchase a new motor car.
　　Ming was provided with an interest free loan of 20,000 on 1 May 2012 so that she
　　could purchase a holiday cottage. Ming repaid 0,000 of the loan on 31 July 2012,
　　and repaid the balance of the loan of 0,000 on 31 December 2012.
　　Newt was provided with a loan during 2010 so that she could purchase a yacht. The
　　amount of loan outstanding at 6 April 2012 was 0,000, and Newt repaid ,000 of
　　the loan on 31 August 2012, and then repaid a further ,000 on 28 February 2013.
　　Newt paid loan interest of 70 to Rest Ltd during the tax year 2012 3. The taxable
　　benefit in respect of this loan is calculated using the average method.
　　Kim
　　The benefit is 00 （12,000 at 4% x 10/12）。
　　Since no repayments have been made during the 2012 3 tax year both
　　methods will produce the same result.
　　Ming
　　The benefit calculated using the average method is ,533 as follows:
　　120,000 + 70,000 x 4% x 8/12 2,533
　　2 ______
　　The benefit using the strict method is ,367 as follows:
　　120,000 at 4% x 3/12 1,200
　　70,000 at 4% x 5/12 1,167
　　______
　　2,367
　　______
　　Ming will therefore elect to have the taxable benefit calculated according to the
　　strict method.
　　Newt
　　Newt repaid 0,000 （5,000 + 5,000） of the loan during 2012 3, so the
　　outstanding balance at 5 April 2013 is 0,000 （60,000 10,000）。
　　The benefit calculated using the average method is ,230 as follows:
　　60,000 + 50,000 x 4% 2,200
　　2
　　Interest paid （970）
　　______
　　1,230
　　______
　　4
　　BENEFITS
　　JANUARY 2013
　　1.2 ABC and cost drivers
　　ABC is an alternative approach to the traditional method of absorption costing outlined above.
　　The traditional method of overhead absorption effectively absorbs on a production volume basis and may be misleading for costs where the * is not directly related to production volume.
　　For example, the cost of quality control may be driven more by the number of inspections made rather than the overall volume of units manufactured.
　　The ABC approach is to link overhead costs to the products or services that cause them by absorbing overhead costs on the basis of activities that ‘drive’ costs （costs drivers） rather than on the basis of production volume.
　　Overhead expenses incurred
　　Step 1: Overheads allocated or apportioned to cost pools using suitable bases
　　Cost pools （usually activities）
　　Step 2: Overheads absorbed into units of production using cost drivers
　　§ A cost pool is an activity that consumes resources and for which overhead costs are identified and allocated. For each cost pool, there should be a cost driver.
　　§ A cost driver is a unit of activity that consumes resources. An alternative definition of a cost driver is a factor influencing the level of cost.
　　Expandable text
　　The concepts or assumptions underlying ABC are:
　　§ In the long run, all overhead costs are variable. Some overheads are variable in the short run. However, overhead costs do not necessarily vary with production volume or service level.
　　§ Activities consume resources.
　　§ The consumption of resources drives cost.
　　Products incur overhead costs because of the activities that go into providing the products or services, and these activities are not necessarily related to the volumes of the product that are manufactured. Direct labour hours and machine hours are not the drivers of cost in many modern business environments.
　　Understanding the relationship between overhead costs, activities and products （or services） is essential for managing overhead costs and product or service profitability.
　　Absorption of overheads into unit costs on a volume basis may be misleading, particularly in a modern manufacturing environment where overhead costs are influenced by the diversity and complexity of output rather than volume.
　　Illustration 1 – ABC
　　A company manufactures two products, X and Y. The company uses absorption costing and fixed production costs and absorbed into production costs on a direct labour hour basis.
　　The budgeted information for the next financial year is as follows:
　　Product XProduct YTotal
　　Production and sales2,000 units5,000 units
　　Direct labour hours per unit32
　　Budgeted direct labour hours6,00010,00016,000
　　Fixed production costs$48,000
　　Absorption rate per direct labour hour
　　Fixed overheads absorbed$18,000$30,000
　　Using ABC
　　A review of the incidence of costs has established that the number of setups is the driver of the fixed production costs. Using ABC the fixed production costs would be allocated as follows:
　　No. of setups per 1,000 units81.6
　　Budgeted setups16824
　　Cost per setup$2,000
　　Fixed overheads allocated$32,000$16,000
　　This difference in costing could have significant implications for pricing, especially if a cost-based approach is used for profit calculation. These, and other implications are discussed in more detail below.
　　Activity-based costing could provide much more meaningful information about product costs and profits when:
　　§ indirect costs are high relative to direct costs
　　§ products or services are complex
　　§ products or services are tailored to customer specifications
　　§ some products are sold in large numbers and others in small numbers.
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