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A long-standing form of tax planning is to offer an employee the opportunity to give up salary in return for the provision of a benefit in kind. Provided the employee is not able to reverse the choice at will, thus falling foul of the principle in Heaton v Bell¹ (see E4.402), this was effective in exchanging the employer and employee liabilities attaching to the salary for whatever treatment applies to the benefit. Where the benefit is exempt from tax the advantages are particularly obvious. However, the tax and NIC advantages of these arrangements have been steadily eroded over the years, for instance with the introduction of Class 1A NIC and the denial of the exemption for workplace meals where the benefit is provided under salary sacrifice arrangements (see E4.777B). The introduction of the legal concept of optional remuneration arrangements (OpRA)² which provide, broadly, for the taxation of the higher of the cash equivalent of the benefit or the cash sacrificed, has further eroded the benefit of salary sacrifice. There are still some