Reminder: Parking+ scheme to cease from 31 March

Friday, 16 March 2018

A reminder that following recent changes to HMRC guidelines on salary sacrifice schemes, the University will no longer be able to offer the Parking+ scheme from 31 March.  

The HMRC changes relate to the tax treatment of certain benefits provided through salary sacrifice arrangements. Our Parking+ scheme was introduced as a tax-efficient benefit to take advantage of tax and National Insurance savings – however, the changes mean that parking permits will now be treated as a taxable benefit and the savings are no longer available.

The changes came into effect from April 2017, but the University took advantage of the Government's protection period, so that staff already in the scheme would not be affected until April 2018.

What will change?

There will be no change to the parking charges and you will retain your current permit – the key change is the way in which the charges are paid. 

With effect from 1 April 2018, parking permit charges will be taken as a deduction from your net salary each month. This change will happen automatically and you will not need to take any further action.

If you wish to cancel your permit you must return it to Palmer Reception as per the conditions of use. The permit will be cancelled and Payroll will be informed to stop the parking charges being deducted from your salary.

For information on applying for a permit, charges, terms and conditions, or cancelling your permit, please visit our Parking webpage. 

If you have any questions about parking on campus, please contact campusparking@reading.ac.uk.

For information on salary sacrifice schemes, please contact hr@reading.ac.uk.