Sainsbury’s is bringing forward bonus payments to more than a thousand of its highest earners in a bid to avoid paying the new top rate of tax.
A proportion of bonuses for 1,200 of the supermarket’s top earners will be paid three months early. Sainsbury’s is also planning to pay bonuses two months early to more than 120,000 other staff.
The shift comes after the government hiked the top rate of tax from 40% to 50% for those trousering more than £150,000 a year.
“We think it is fairer to the individual for the proportion of their bonus awards that are based on Sainsbury’s financial performance to be paid, and therefore taxed, in accordance with the rates that applied across the financial year in which they were earned,” Sainsbury’s told the Financial Times.
“We believe that bonuses work best when they are delivered as close as possible to the performance period for which they relate.”
Last week Sainsbury’s said 9,000 workers signed up to its Sharesave scheme would receive payments of up to £10,500 each, totalling around £20m.
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