Can you tell me the reason why you are seeking to establish this difference as in determining employment income we simply need to know whether a benefit is taxable or exempt and if taxable how to compute the taxable amount and these rules are given in the notes. The distinction between cash and non cash is relevant in another area of tax – what is this? In relation to the loan benefit you must remember that the taxpayer is not being given the cash it is merely being loaned to the employee, so the benefit is the difference between the official interest rate and whatever lesser amount has been charged.