Can I claim life insurance as a business expense?

Yes, you can usually claim life insurance as a business expense if it falls within certain categories. Relevant life insurance plans and other business life insurance policies can be arranged whether you are self-employed or through your business or employer, attracting significant tax savings.

Unsurprisingly, life insurance policies that attract tax relief are very attractive to company directors but also high-earning employees. Of course, tax avoidance should not be your primary driver but we all like to find ways to save tax where we can. Relevant life insurance* offers employers a way to provide life insurance for employees - a common perk with most remuneration packages nowadays.

Here we will explore how relevant life plans work, whether it is an allowable business expense and who qualifies. If you are looking to arrange life insurance for an employee that can be claimed as a business expense then you may wish to explore keyman insurance which we cover in our article, "What is keyman insurance – How much is it and who should get it?". You can also arrange group life insurance if you wish to arrange life insurance for a number of employees as part of the employee benefit package and claim this as a business expense. You will find more information about group life insurance in our article, "A guide to group life insurance".

What is Relevant Life Insurance?

Introduced in 2008, relevant life insurance is a tax-efficient product that allows businesses to arrange life insurance policies for their employees. It is a type of term life insurance meaning it covers the insured person for a set number of years that pays out if they die within the term. Relevant life insurance covers the employee's life and in the event that they die during the term, the policy pays out through a discretionary trust to the beneficiaries of the person insured.

The business pays for the life insurance but does not and cannot receive the benefits from the policy if a claim is made. The cost of the policy is considered a business expense and can be tax-deductible. From the point of view of the employee, the cost of the policy does not constitute a P11D benefit-in-kind.

Relevant Life Insurance key points:

• It is available to employees between the ages of 17 and 74
• Must end by the time the employee reaches age 75
• Will pay a lump sum that can remain level or increase with inflation during its term
• Can only be arranged for the employee and spouses/partners cannot be added
• Cannot accumulate any value other than in the event of a death claim
• Cannot contain Critical Illness benefits

Which taxes can you save by arranging Relevant Life Insurance?

Below, I have listed the various areas where tax savings are possible along with a brief explanation. However, in matters of tax, it is always important to ensure that you take advice from a specialist business insurance adviser* who will apply these to your specific circumstances.

• Corporation Tax - the cost of the relevant life insurance plan can be offset against profits thereby reducing corporation tax for the business.
• Income Tax - there is no P11D benefit-in-kind consideration so the employee would not be required to pay tax in the way that they would do for benefits like a company car or private medical insurance. Also, it is worth considering that in order to fund their own life insurance, an employee would need to pay the life insurance premiums from their net pay (after tax and national insurance have been deducted).
• National Insurance - there is no national insurance contribution required from the employer or the employee against the cost of the policy.
• Inheritance Tax - a discretionary trust arranged alongside the policy ensures that the money from a claim is paid through the trustees to the beneficiaries. This prevents the money from being added to the deceased employee's estate for inheritance tax purposes.
• Pension Lifetime Allowance Charge - if you took your pension benefits before 6 April 2023 then your pension assets can be charged up to 55% tax on any value over and above the Lifetime Allowance threshold of £1,073,100 but there is no charge for those taking pension benefits after this date as the tax charge was removed in the Spring 2023 budget.

Relevant life insurance plans are an alternative to group life insurance which usually requires a minimum number of members and can be expensive for the business to set up and administer. For high earners, there is the added advantage that a relevant life policy does not form part of a registered scheme putting it outside the remits of your pension lifetime allowance. Again, this potentially saves on tax.

Who is Relevant Life Insurance good for?

Relevant life policies are available for most people who are salaried and taxed under Schedule E. The policy must be applied for by the business that will pay for it. An employer/employee relationship must exist between the business and the employee. Any death claim cannot benefit the business.

The types of businesses that can arrange a relevant life plan:

• Limited Companies
• Charities
• Partnerships
• Any other organisation within which an employer/employee relationship exists

Who can get a Relevant Life Insurance policy

Who Qualifies	Who Doesn't Qualify
Employees	Equity Partners of an LLP
Salaried Directors	Sole Traders
Contractors	Those taxed under Schedule D

A relevant life insurance policy is particularly attractive for small to medium-sized businesses (SMEs) that may find group insurance schemes expensive or inaccessible due to being unable to meet the requirement for a minimum number of scheme members.

A relevant life policy is particularly attractive to directors of small to medium sized businesses who wish to arrange life cover that is paid for by the business. There can be significant tax savings achieved through not using net income to pay for your life insurance as well as the corporation tax savings that the business would see.

How to arrange the best and cheapest Relevant Life Insurance

There are several considerations when arranging relevant life insurance. Due to local tax office differences, it is vital that you engage with a specialist who will guide you. Although the rules and tax savings described above are correct, there may be considerations that need to be checked with your local tax office. Many of the life insurance companies that sell relevant life insurance provide excellent assistance with this, but will not actually be able to provide advice to you.

We have vetted the services of a company that specialises in business insurance advice* and employs advisers who are specially trained in this area. One of its advisers will ask for all the necessary details about your business and the personnel you wish to insure before evaluating the best product, insurance company and rates for you. The adviser will take care of all necessary paperwork including the application form and trust completion. This will provide you with peace of mind and ease in arranging what you need.

If for any reason, a relevant life insurance plan is not right for you, the adviser will be in a position to access a more suitable product and recommend this instead. The advisers work with all life insurance products, both business and personal life insurance as well as all insurance companies in the market. This means you'll have access to every proposition that is available.

To arrange a callback from an adviser, complete this form*. Additionally, as a Money to the Masses reader you'll even receive up to £100 cashback for arranging your insurance.

 

 

If a link has an * beside it this means that it is an affiliated link. If you go via the link, Money to the Masses may receive a small fee which helps keep Money to the Masses free to use. The following link can be used if you do not wish to help Money to the Masses and do not wish to qualify for the cashback referred to in the article - LifeSearch