2.19 The former Chair's [amount] office support allowance is not in the single-figure table, which shows no taxable benefits for him
UK Company B · a UK-listed technology and logistics group · Regulator-style question
In brief
The remuneration report says the former Chair was entitled to an expense allowance of [amount] a year (2023: [amount] for office support costs. The audited table of Non-Executive Directors' pay shows his fees of [n] (GBP thousand) and nothing in the taxable benefits column in either year. If the allowance was paid to him and taxable, the regulations count it as a taxable benefit in the single figure; if it was not (for example, if the company met the office costs directly), the report does not say so.
The evidence, as filed
Screenshot withheld to protect the company’s identity: Annual Report 2024, page 137; Annual Report 2025, page 147; Annual Report 2024, page 131. Their wording or layout could lead back to the company even with names and figures masked; the evidence list below records what each page shows.
What the report shows, and what the rule requires
| What the annual report shows | What the rule requires |
|---|---|
| What the annual report shows Text: '[wording masked] [amount] (FY23: [amount] [wording masked]'. Table: fees [n] (2023: [n]), taxable benefits '–', total [n]. The fee recomputes without the allowance ([n]). | What the rule requires Either the allowance in the taxable benefits column (with the summary of benefit types that Schedule 8 requires after the table), or a sentence explaining that it was not paid to the Chair or was not chargeable to income tax and how the costs were met. |
The rule
SI 2008/410, Schedule 8, paragraph 11(1)(a)
Version relied on: Large and Medium-sized Companies and Groups (Accounts and Reports) Regulations 2008 (SI 2008/410), in force from April 2008, as amended (the directors’ remuneration report Schedule 8 as substituted from October 2013); revised text, legislation.gov.uk
“taxable benefits” includes— (a)sums paid by way of expenses allowance that are— (i)chargeable to United Kingdom income tax
SI 2008/410, Schedule 8, paragraph 7(1)(b)
Version relied on: Large and Medium-sized Companies and Groups (Accounts and Reports) Regulations 2008 (SI 2008/410), in force from April 2008, as amended (the directors’ remuneration report Schedule 8 as substituted from October 2013); revised text, legislation.gov.uk
in the column headed “b”, all taxable benefits;
Why it applies here: either the allowance was not a taxable sum paid to the Chair, or the single figure leaves it out.
Why it matters
If the allowance was a taxable sum paid to the Chair, his single figure for 2024 is understated by up to [amount] and for 2023 by up to [amount].
Exposure
A question on remuneration-report content; no sanction as it stands. If the allowance proves to be a taxable benefit, the figure would be corrected in the next report.
Our workings
the report states the allowance and the fee increase to [amount]; the table's taxable benefits column for the Chair is blank in both years.
assuming the fee increase took effect on [date], as executive salary changes did, [n] x 8/12 + [n] x 4/12 = [n], which rounds to the [n] shown as fees, so the allowance is not in the fee figure; it would be [n] / [n] = [n]% of his single figure.
Schedule 8 counts expense allowances chargeable to income tax as taxable benefits. Which applies depends on facts only the company has, so the point is a question.
| Step | Computation | Result |
|---|---|---|
| Chair fee for the year (increase assumed from [date]) | [n] x 8/12 + [n] x 4/12 = [n] | [n] (GBP thousand), the fee shown |
| Allowance as a share of the single figure | [n] / [n] = [n]% | [n]% |
| Allowance in GBP million | [n] / [n] = [n] | [n] |
Management’s best defence, and our reply
The allowance may be a budget for office support (for example a personal assistant) that the company paid directly or reimbursed against receipts, so that it was neither paid to the Chair nor taxable on him and is not remuneration at all. The company also holds written confirmations that Non-Executive Directors received no other remuneration. However, the report says he was 'entitled to receive' the allowance, which reads as a sum due to him; the regulations treat a taxable expense allowance as a taxable benefit, and the table shows none, so the reader cannot tell which is right. Because the company's explanation may be complete, the point is a question.
The fix
- State how the allowance was paid and taxed; if it was a taxable sum paid to the Chair, include it in the taxable benefits column with the benefit-type summary after the table.
Question for the company
Was the [amount] office support allowance paid to the former Chair (or receivable by him), and was it chargeable to income tax? If so, why is it not in the taxable benefits column of the single figure; if not, how were the office support costs met?
Evidence relied on
| # | What it shows | Type | Where |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | The Chair's office support allowance, both years | Document | Annual Report 2024, page 137 |
| 2 | The Chair's annual fee, used to show the fee column excludes the allowance | Document | Annual Report 2024, page 137 |
| 3 | Audited table: fees [n] and [n], taxable benefits blank in both years | Document | Annual Report 2024, page 137 |
| 4 | The report relies on items 'referred to in this Report', which includes the allowance sentence | Document | Annual Report 2024, page 131 |
Absence check
- Document
- Annual Report 2024
- Where it would appear
- Non-Executive Directors
- What is missing
- the allowance in the Chair's taxable benefits column, or an explanation that it was not paid to him or was not taxable
- Pages looked at
- Annual Report [amount].131-137 (Non-Executive Director pay pages, page images)
- Result
- 'expense allowance' and 'office support' appear only in the sentence quoted on p.137; 'expenses allowance' has no hits; 'taxable benefit' appears for the Executive Directors (pp.132-133), in the column heading of the Non-Executive table and in the share-scheme notes; none explains the Chair's allowance.
Prepared by Pramanex from the company’s published annual reports, without the company’s involvement, to show how an annual report review reads. The company is not named, and nothing on this page is a statement about any identifiable company. Observations are not an audit, review or other assurance engagement, and not legal advice. A regulator-style question is a question, not a conclusion.
Want this on your own annual report, before it is published?
Start with three free findings on your latest published annual report, or talk to us about a fixed-fee pre-publication review.
Your annual report will be in draft before the year-end audit.
Have it read before it is published.
Under NDA, with our reviewer on your insider list under UK MAR.