Late Lunchtime Links: You will NOT have to pay tax upfront on your deferred bonus

The Financial Times today reports on a bad thing which will, thankfully, not be happening.

Under proposals emanating from Her Majesty's Revenue and Customs before Christmas, there was a chance that deferred bonuses would have been taxed before they were received.

Many deferred bonuses are often into employee benefit trusts, which HMRC is trying very hard to snuff out. As we noted a few weeks ago, JPMorgan's employee benefit trust appears to have been extinguished under the new rules.

Fortunately, HMRC has listened to reason and clarified that any bonuses paid into a trust by a bank and paid out to employees at a later date, will only incur tax at the point of payment.

"The basics of an employee benefit trust are fine," John Whiting, tax policy director at the Chartered Institute of Taxation, tells us. "If an employer decides to put X thousand into a trust each year and to pay employees money from that trust at regular intervals, it's perfectly legitimate.

"Putting money into the trust shouldn't create a tax liability," he adds. "But tax should be paid as soon as an employee receives money from the trust in any form."

In the past, banks sought to avoid tax by paying money into trusts and allowing employees to take immediate out loans against them. Those loans often didn't incur income tax or national insurance and are now comprehensively prohibited.

It is understood that proposals to prevent banks from offsetting all their losses from the financial crisis against tax have been dropped. (Guardian)

UBS has got a new group wide 'Referral incentive programme' to try and get investment bankers to talk to private bankers and vice versa. (Financial News)

Deutsche wants to expand in Eastern Europe. (Bloomberg)

Standard Bank has hired 12 analysts in South Africa. (Bloomberg)

Let it be known that Coutts & Co is enjoying 'good times' in Birmingham. (Banking Times)

Should you start your career at a big name with small compensation or a small name with big compensation? (Quora)

The more you earn, the more stressed you are. (WSJ)

Women are particularly under-represented in Germany. (New York Times)