Section 376: Foreign accommodation and subsistence costs and expenses (overseas employments)
1645.This section provides that a deduction is allowed for costs or expenses in respect of accommodation or subsistence while an employee is working abroad.
1646.The section derives from section 193(2) and (4) of ICTA.
1647.Subsection (1) specifies the circumstances in which a deduction from earnings is allowed. See also Change 101(A) in Annex 1. The deduction is allowed if:
the duties of the employment are performed wholly outside the United Kingdom;
the employee is resident and ordinarily resident in the United Kingdom;
in a case where the employer is a foreign employer (see section 721(1)), the employee is domiciled in the United Kingdom; and
the earnings include an amount in respect of the provision of accommodation or subsistence outside the United Kingdom for the purpose of enabling the employee to perform the duties of the employment, or the earnings include an amount in respect of the reimbursement of expenses incurred by the employee on such accommodation or subsistence for that purpose.
1648.Subsection (2) provides that if the accommodation or subsistence is wholly for the purpose of enabling the employee to perform the duties of the employment, the deduction is equal to the included amount; and subsection (3) provides that if the accommodation or subsistence is only partly for that purpose, the deduction allowed is only a proportion of the included amount.
1649.The expression “board and lodging” in section 193(4) of ICTA has been replaced in this Act by the expression “accommodation or subsistence”. It is not necessary for both elements mentioned in section 193(4) to be present for the deduction to be allowed.
1650.In the detail of the wording used, this section departs from the legislation it replaces to a significant extent. Some of these changes reflect the decision to dispense with the term “foreign emoluments” and to use the term “foreign employer”.
1651.Subsections (4) and (5) derive from section 132(2) of ICTA. These subsections ensure that a deduction under this section is still available if duties of the employment are performed in the United Kingdom which are merely incidental to the duties of the employment performed outside the United Kingdom. See also Change 101(B) in Annex 1.
