The following day was his day off, but he had to go to his regular workplace, outside of his working hours, to catch up on some tasks. Would he be able to claim travel expenses for his commute and the travel expenses incurred outside of his normal working hours?“
There are several key issues to explore here, particularly regarding the distinction between temporary and permanent workplaces and the eligibility to claim travel expenses. Since the doctor is an employee there are specific provisions concerning commuting to work which will need to be considered.
Firstly, it would be important to establish whether Mubin’s workplaces are either permanent or temporary places of work. A workplace is a place in which the employee’s attendance is necessary in the performance of the duties of the employment. A permanent workplace is where an employee regularly attends to perform those duties of their employment. Costs incurred whilst travelling to a permanent workplace are not deductible under Section 338(3) ITEPA 2003.
It is usually quite clear whether a workplace is permanent and therefore whether the commute will constitute as ordinary commuting or not. In this case, Mubin is frequently going to one location that will be considered as his permanent workplace- he would need to be at this hospital to carry out his employment duties. Consequently, his travel expenses to commute from home to the hospital will not be a deductible expense. It becomes slightly harder to determine when a workplace is temporary.
A workplace cannot be both permanent and temporary- A temporary workplace is one where an employee goes only to perform a task for a limited duration of time or for a temporary purpose as outlined in Section 339(3) ITEPA 2003. If either of those two factors are satisfied, then further rules are considered to determine whether they are temporary. In this case, the emergency visit to the other location is a self-contained visit which was arranged for a particular reason rather than a continuously scheduled arrangement to the same workplace to carry out a particular task therefore it is likely to be considered as a task performed for a ‘temporary purpose’ – see HMRC guidance at EIM32150. This was not a fixed appointment or an arrangement for over a 24-month period therefore it will be considered as a temporary workplace, so the expenses are deductible.
HMRC Guidance at EIM32056 explains that extra costs incurred by an employee who is required to work outside of their regular working hours will not benefit from a deduction for their expenses. This is because it will still fall under the umbrella of journeys between the employee’s home and work as set out in Section 338(3) ITEPA 2003. The scenario specifies that Mubin travelled to his regular place of work outside of his usual working hours- it makes no difference that this was outside of his normal working hours as it is still considered as ‘ordinary commuting’.
Overall, travel expenses incurred by employees for regular commuting do not fall within the scope of deductible expenses but for expenses suffered for travel to temporary workplaces, which are for a limited duration of time and a temporary purpose, will deductible. Additionally, employees who go above and beyond to commute to work outside of their regular working hours do not enjoy any deductible expenses as this still falls within the scope of ‘ordinary commuting’.
