Commentary on Sections Glossary Part 2: Employment income: charge to tax Section 17: Treatment of earnings for year in which employment not held
74.This section sets out how earnings from an employment should be treated if they would otherwise be considered as earnings for a year before or after that employment is held. It derives from paragraph 4A of section 19(1).
75.The rule in section 17 applies only to “general earnings”, ie emoluments or amounts treated as emoluments, thus subject to the Cases of Schedule E as set out in paragraph 1 of section 19(1) of ICTA.
76.Where the Schedule E legislation provides that an amount shall be treated as an emolument of an employment only if provided in a year when the employment is held, this Act reproduces that limitation. The sections in the benefits code make it clear that such amounts or benefits will only be treated as earnings if they are paid/provided in a year in which the employment is held. If they are paid/provided at any other time they will not be treated as earnings and will be outside the “general earnings” to which section 17 applies.Subsection (4) makes it clear that this section does not apply in connection with determining amounts to be treated as earnings under the benefits code. See Note 7 in Annex 2.