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What travel expenses are

2.1

The term 鈥榯ravel expenses鈥� includes the actual costs of travel together with any subsistence expenditure and other associated costs that are incurred in making the journey. The meaning of subsistence is covered in detail in paragraph 5.4 of The amount of tax relief (Chapter 5).

In most cases, tax relief is available for the full cost of business travelling expenses, except where motoring expenses are paid to employees who use their own vehicles for business travel, in which case special rules apply - go to paragraph 9.12 of Employers鈥� reporting requirements (Chapter 9).

Business travelling expenses are travelling expenses which are incurred on:

• journeys which employees have to make in the performance of their duties (travel in the performance of the duties)
• journeys which employees make to or from a place they have to attend in the performance of their duties (travel to a place where attendance is in the performance of the duties) 鈥� but not journeys which are ordinary commuting or private travel

2.2

Tax relief is available only where travel is in the actual performance of the duties or where it鈥檚 necessary 鈥� in a real sense 鈥� for the employee to attend the particular place on that occasion to perform the duties of their employment.

Travel in the performance of the employee鈥檚 duties

2.3

The sort of travel that qualifies for tax relief on this basis is travel that is 鈥榦n the job鈥�, as distinct from travel 鈥榯o the job鈥�. The most common example is travel between one workplace and another in connection with a single employment.

The cost of such travel is incurred in actually carrying out the duties of the employment, although the treatment may be different where one of the workplaces is the employee鈥檚 home.

For detailed guidance on when relief is available where the employee鈥檚 home is a workplace go to paragraph 3.36 of Ordinary commuting and private travel (Chapter 3).

2.4

Another example is where travel is integral to the performance of the duties. Typical examples are a commercial traveller, or a service engineer who moves from place to place during the day carrying out repairs to domestic appliances at clients鈥� premises. Such employees are sometimes described as having travelling appointments.

Travel to a place where attendance is in the performance of duties

2.5

This category covers journeys an employee makes to or from a place they have to attend to carry out duties of that employment. Such places are referred to as 鈥榯emporary workplaces鈥�. This is explained at paragraph 3.13 of Ordinary commuting and private travel (Chapter 3), but a typical example might be where an employee has to travel directly between home and a client鈥檚 office.

It excludes journeys that constitute 鈥榦rdinary commuting鈥� or 鈥榩rivate travel鈥�. The meaning of ordinary commuting and private travel are explained at paragraph 3.2 of Ordinary commuting and private travel (Chapter 3).

2.6

To get relief for the cost of travel, the employee鈥檚 attendance at the temporary workplace has to be necessary in the sense that it鈥檚 dictated by the requirements of the duties of the employment and not, in any way, by the personal convenience of the employee.

Similarly, an employer cannot turn an ordinary commuting journey into a business journey by asking an employee to stop off on the way to carry out business tasks such as making phone calls.

Paragraphs 4.3 to 4.5 of Safeguards against abuse (Chapter 4) explain this in more detail.

Travel between employments

2.7

Generally, where someone has 2 employments, the duties of which are performed at different places, there is no tax relief available for the cost of travelling between those places.

But tax relief is available in the case of people who:

• hold employments with more than one company in a group (go to paragraph 2.8)
• hold employments with more than one associated company (go to paragraph 2.9)
• have more than one employment and the duties of one of them are performed wholly or partly overseas (go to paragraphs 7.4 to 7.7 of Special tax rules on foreign travel (Chapter 7)

Travel between separate employers within a group

2.8

Someone who is an employee of 2 companies within a group of companies may be entitled to tax relief for the cost of a journey between workplaces for the performance of the duties of those separate offices or employments.

For this purpose, companies will be regarded as being members of the same group if one is at least a 51% subsidiary of the other, or both are at least 51% subsidiaries of a third company.

Travel between linked employments

2.9

Someone who is a director of a company and who is also an employee of an associated company may be entitled to tax relief for the costs of travelling in the UK incurred on journeys between the workplaces of either of the companies for the performance of the duties of either employment.

For this purpose, company X is an 鈥榓ssociated company鈥� of company Y if the employee of company Y was appointed as a director of company X because Y (or another company in Y鈥檚 group) has a shareholding or other financial interest in X.

Joint projects

2.10

Two or more employers may act together on a particular project. Sometimes they鈥檒l form a joint enterprise for this purpose. An employee of either of the employers, whose duties need them to act for the joint enterprise is entitled to tax relief for business travel.