Income Tax (Earnings and Pensions) Act 2003 section 701

Meaning of "asset"

Section 701 defines what counts as an "asset" for the purposes of Chapter 4 (PAYE regulations relating to assets), establishing a broad definition but with important exclusions for certain payments, vouchers, and employee shares.

• An "asset" includes any property and, in particular, any regulated investment specified in Part 3 of the Financial Services and Markets Act 2000 (Regulated Activities) Order 2001
• Excluded from the definition are actual PAYE income payments, cash vouchers, non-cash vouchers, credit-tokens, and any property excluded by PAYE regulations
• Certain employee shares are also excluded — specifically shares acquired under approved profit sharing schemes, SAYE option schemes, CSOP schemes (where qualifying conditions are met), and pre-27 November 1996 share rights exercised without a main purpose of avoiding tax or national insurance — provided the shares are ordinary share capital of a qualifying company
• A qualifying company is the employer itself, a company controlling the employer, or a company that is or controls a member of a consortium owning at least 75% of the employer (with each consortium member owning at least 5%)