Income Tax (Earnings and Pensions) Act 2003

Travel expenses

337 Travel in performance of duties

(1) A deduction from earnings is allowed for travel expenses if—

(a) the employee is obliged to incur and pay them as holder of the employment, and

(b) the expenses are necessarily incurred on travelling in the performance of the duties of the employment.

(2) This section needs to be read with section 359 (disallowance of travel expenses: mileage allowances and reliefs).

338 Travel for necessary attendance

(1) A deduction from earnings is allowed for travel expenses if—

(a) the employee is obliged to incur and pay them as holder of the employment, and

(b) the expenses are attributable to the employee’s necessary attendance at any place in the performance of the duties of the employment.

(2) Subsection (1) does not apply to the expenses of ordinary commuting or travel between any two places that is for practical purposes substantially ordinary commuting.

(3) In this section “ordinary commuting” means travel between—

(a) the employee’s home and a permanent workplace, or

(b) a place that is not a workplace and a permanent workplace.

(4) Subsection (1) does not apply to the expenses of private travel or travel between any two places that is for practical purposes substantially private travel.

(5) In subsection (4) “private travel” means travel between—

(a) the employee’s home and a place that is not a workplace, or

(b) two places neither of which is a workplace.

(6) This section needs to be read with section 359 (disallowance of travel expenses: mileage allowances and reliefs).

339 Meaning of “workplace” and “permanent workplace”

(1) In this Part “workplace”, in relation to an employment, means a place at which the employee’s attendance is necessary in the performance of the duties of the employment.

(2) In this Part “permanent workplace”, in relation to an employment, means a place which—

(a) the employee regularly attends in the performance of the duties of the employment, and

(b) is not a temporary workplace.

This is subject to subsections (4) and (8).

(3) In subsection (2) “temporary workplace”, in relation to an employment, means a place which the employee attends in the performance of the duties of the employment—

(a) for the purpose of performing a task of limited duration, or

(b) for some other temporary purpose.

This is subject to subsections (4) and (5).

(4) A place which the employee regularly attends in the performance of the duties of the employment is treated as a permanent workplace and not a temporary workplace if—

(a) it forms the base from which those duties are performed, or

(b) the tasks to be carried out in the performance of those duties are allocated there.

(5) A place is not regarded as a temporary workplace if the employee’s attendance is—

(a) in the course of a period of continuous work at that place—

(i) lasting more than 24 months, or

(ii) comprising all or almost all of the period for which the employee is likely to hold the employment, or

(b) at a time when it is reasonable to assume that it will be in the course of such a period.

(6) For the purposes of subsection (5), a period is a period of continuous work at a place if over the period the duties of the employment are performed to a significant extent at the place.

(7) An actual or contemplated modification of the place at which duties are performed is to be disregarded for the purposes of subsections (5) and (6) if it does not, or would not, have any substantial effect on the employee’s journey, or expenses of travelling, to and from the place where they are performed.

(8) An employee is treated as having a permanent workplace consisting of an area if—

(a) the duties of the employment are defined by reference to an area (whether or not they also require attendance at places outside it),

(b) in the performance of those duties the employee attends different places within the area,

(c) none of the places the employee attends in the performance of those duties is a permanent workplace, and

(d) the area would be a permanent workplace if subsections (2), (3), (5), (6) and (7) referred to the area where they refer to a place.

340 Travel between group employments

(1) A deduction from earnings from an employment is allowed for travel expenses if conditions A to D are met.

(2) Condition A is that the employee is obliged to incur and pay the expenses.

(3) Condition B is that the travel is for the purpose of performing duties of the employment at the destination.

(4) Condition C is that the employee has performed duties of another employment at the place of departure.

(5) Condition D is that the employments are with companies in the same group.

(6) In this section “group” means a company and its 51% subsidiaries.

(7) For the purposes of sections 353 and 354 (special rules for earnings with a foreign element), the expenses are treated as incurred in the performance of the duties to be performed at the destination.

(8) This section needs to be read with section 359 (disallowance of travel expenses: mileage allowances and reliefs).

341 Travel at start or finish of overseas employment

(1) A deduction from earnings from an employment is allowed for starting travel expenses and finishing travel expenses if conditions A to C are met.

(2) Condition A is that the duties of the employment are performed wholly outside the United Kingdom.

(3) Condition B is that the employee is resident and ordinarily resident in the United Kingdom.

(4) Condition C is that in a case where the employer is a foreign employer, the employee is domiciled in the United Kingdom.

(5) If the travel is only partly attributable to the taking up or termination of the employment, this section applies only to the part of the expenses properly so attributable.

(6) Subsection (7) applies if in the tax year the employment is in substance one whose duties fall to be performed outside the United Kingdom.

(7) Duties of the employment performed in the United Kingdom, whose performance is merely incidental to the performance of duties outside the United Kingdom, are to be treated for the purposes of subsection (2) as performed outside the United Kingdom.

(8) In this section—

• “starting travel expenses” means expenses incurred by the employee in travelling from a place in the United Kingdom to take up the employment,

• “finishing travel expenses” means expenses incurred by the employee in travelling to a place in the United Kingdom on the termination of the employment, and

• “employee” includes a person who is to be, or has ceased to be, an employee.

(9) This section needs to be read with section 359 (disallowance of travel expenses: mileage allowances and reliefs).

342 Travel between employments where duties performed abroad

(1) A deduction from earnings from an employment is allowed for travel expenses incurred by the employee if conditions A to F are met.

(2) Condition A is that the travel is for the purpose of performing duties of the employment at the destination.

(3) Condition B is that the employee has performed duties of another employment at the place of departure.

(4) Condition C is that the place of departure or the destination or both are outside the United Kingdom.

(5) Condition D is that the duties of one or both of the employments are performed wholly or partly outside the United Kingdom.

(6) Condition E is that the employee is resident and ordinarily resident in the United Kingdom.

(7) Condition F is that in a case where the employer is a foreign employer, the employee is domiciled in the United Kingdom.

(8) If the travel is only partly attributable to the purpose of performing duties of the employment at the destination, this section applies only to the part of the expenses properly so attributable.

(9) This section needs to be read with section 359 (disallowance of travel expenses: mileage allowances and reliefs).