Your client, Jessica, has requested advice in relation to the tax liability arising on a redundancy payment.

Jessica:
– Is resident and domiciled in the UK.
– Was employed by Berens Ltd up to 31 March 2018, when she was made redundant.
– Will become a partner in the Langley Partnership on 1 July 2018.
– Has never made any disposals for capital gains tax (CGT) purposes.

Jessica – income from Berens Ltd:
– Jessica received an annual salary from Berens Ltd of £145,000 each year from the tax year 2015/16.
– From 6 April 2017, Jessica was provided with a new company laptop computer, which cost Berens Ltd £850.
Jessica had significant private use of this laptop computer.

Jessica – other income:
– Prior to the tax year 2017/18 Jessica had no other source of income.
– Starting from the tax year 2017/18, Jessica receives rental income of £6,000 each tax year.

Jessica – redundancy package from Berens Ltd:
– The package, received on 31 March 2018, included a statutory redundancy payment of £18,000 and an ex‐gratia payment of £32,000.
– As part of the package, Berens Ltd also allowed Jessica to keep the laptop computer, which had a market value of £540 on 31 March 2018.

Required:
(a) Explain, with supporting calculations, the taxable amount of the redundancy package received from Berens Ltd on 31 March 2018, and calculate the income tax payable on it by Jessica. (5 marks)