Benefit-in-kind (BIK) changes during COVID-19 restrictions
Employer provided accommodation and equipment
Employer provided accommodation
If you provide accommodation to an employee for their private use, a Benefit-in-kind (BIK) charge generally arises. For more information, please see Free or subsidised accommodation.
You may have provided an employee with temporary accommodation to mitigate against potential transmission risks of COVID-19. For example, where an employee:
- returned from an overseas trip and requires self-isolation
- or
- where there was a concern of transmission to other frontline workers residing in the same household. In this case, Revenue accepted that no charge to BIK arose during the COVID-19 crisis.
This measure applied for the years of assessment 2020, 2021, and 2022. For the 2022 year of assessment, 'temporary' regarding this measure meant a maximum period of three consecutive weeks.
Employer provided equipment
A BIK charge did not arise where you provided equipment to your employees to set up a working space in their homes. Equipment can include laptops, printers, scanners and office furniture.