Income Tax (Earnings and Pensions) Act 2003 section 217

Meaning of "lower-paid employment"

Section 217 defines what counts as "lower-paid employment" by reference to an annual earnings rate threshold of £8,500.

• An employment is "lower-paid" for a tax year if the earnings rate for that employment for the year is less than £8,500.
• The test is based on the employee's entitlement to earnings for the year, not the amounts actually received or taxed in that year.
• There can only be one earnings rate for any single employment in any one tax year — the year cannot be split into lower-paid and non-lower-paid periods for the same job.
• The detailed calculation of the earnings rate is set out in section 218 of the Act.