The short answer: most things your company buys for you are taxed as a benefit in kind. A short list is not. The big one is pension contributions. The everyday ones are trivial benefits, a mobile phone and an annual event. The one most directors have never used is the annual health check: one screening per tax year, paid by the company, with no income tax charge on you.
"Tax free" here means no income tax for you and nothing to report as a benefit in kind, provided you stay inside the conditions. Every row links to the official source.
| Perk | Limit in 2026/27 | The condition that catches people | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pension contributions | Up to the £60,000 annual allowance | The allowance counts everything paid in by you and the company. It is reduced for very high incomes. | GOV.UK |
| Annual health check | One health screening and one medical check-up per tax year | The company arranges and pays. It is a screening for risk, not treatment or tests for an existing illness. | How it works |
| Trivial benefits | £50 or less each; £300 a year for directors of close companies | Not cash or a cash voucher, not a reward for work, not in your contract. | GOV.UK |
| Mobile phone | One phone per person | The contract is between the company and the supplier, and the company pays the bill directly. | GOV.UK |
| Annual event | £150 or less per head | It must be annual and open to all employees. Go a penny over and the whole amount is taxable. | GOV.UK |
| Working from home | £6 a week, or £26 a month | For regular home working under an agreed arrangement. No receipts needed at this amount. | GOV.UK |
| Work-related training | No set limit | The training must relate to your job. Courses taken as a reward or for leisure are taxable. | GOV.UK |
| Relocation costs | First £8,000 | You must be moving your main home because of the job, within the time limits. | GOV.UK |
| Pensions advice | Up to £500 a year | Must be available to all employees generally. | GOV.UK |
| Welfare counselling | No set limit | Must be available to all employees on similar terms. Excludes medical treatment and financial or legal advice. | GOV.UK |
Limits and conditions from GOV.UK on 10 November 2026. Several of these exemptions only apply when the benefit is open to all employees; in a company where you are the only employee, that condition is met by default, but check with your accountant.
Ask a director what their company pays for and you will hear pension, phone, maybe the Christmas meal. Very few mention a health check, even though the exemption has been in the legislation since 2009 and has no cost limit written into it.
The rule is section 320B of the Income Tax (Earnings and Pensions) Act 2003: no income tax arises when an employer provides an employee with a health-screening assessment or a medical check-up, limited to one of each per tax year. A director counts. The company should buy it directly, and it must be a screening to find risks early, not treatment.
It is also the only perk on the list that might tell you something you did not know. A broad blood panel looks at your heart, liver, kidneys, hormones, blood sugar, vitamins and more from one sample, at a point when you feel fine and have no reason to see a GP.
Private medical insurance. If the company pays for it, it is a taxable benefit. It is reported on a P11D, you pay income tax on its value and the company pays National Insurance. This is the one most often confused with health screening.
Gym memberships. A membership the company pays for is a taxable benefit.
An electric company car. Low tax, not no tax. A fully electric car is taxed on 4% of its list price in 2026/27, and the rate is rising.
Anything over a limit. A £55 gift is not a £50 trivial benefit with £5 taxed; the whole £55 is taxable. The same applies to the £150 annual event.
A second health screening in the same tax year. The exemption is one per person per tax year. A second is a taxable benefit.
Anything you pay for personally and claim back. Most of these exemptions are for things the company provides. Reimbursing a personal bill can turn an exempt benefit into earnings.
The main ones in 2026/27 are employer pension contributions within the £60,000 annual allowance, one health screening and one medical check-up per tax year, trivial benefits of £50 or less each (capped at £300 a year for directors of close companies), one mobile phone, an annual event costing £150 or less per head, £6 a week towards working from home, work-related training, and the first £8,000 of qualifying relocation costs. Each has conditions.
Yes, within limits. Section 320B of the Income Tax (Earnings and Pensions) Act 2003 exempts one health-screening assessment and one medical check-up per employee per tax year, and a director counts as an employee for this. The company should arrange and pay for it directly.
No. Private medical insurance paid by the company is a taxable benefit in kind: it goes on a P11D, you pay income tax on its value and the company pays National Insurance on it. A health screening is treated differently, which is why the two are often confused.
Not for one that costs more than £50. A trivial benefit must cost £50 or less; if it costs more, the whole amount is taxable. A health screening has its own, separate exemption with no cost limit in the legislation.
No, but the tax is low. A fully electric company car is taxed on 4% of its list price in 2026/27, and the rate is set to rise in later years. It is a low-tax benefit, not a tax-free one.
No. These are exemptions for benefits an employer provides to employees and directors. A sole trader is not an employee of their own business.
140 biomarkers, a clinician-reviewed report within 4 working days, and a named account manager to ask afterwards. £399 including the clinic draw. Pay with the company card.
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