WFH & Travel Expenses Tax Question

westv

I've recently transferred from temporary remote working to a permanent remote working contract. Travelling to/from the main office "as and when required" - at my expense.

When I was WFH on a temporary basis my primary place of work was in London. Am I correct in saying that travelling expenses to/from there were not tax deductible?

Now my primary place of work is my home, are any future travelling expenses now tax deductible?

I expect total expenses may be around £6k a year. 

breaking_free

Logic tells me no. A person who commutes to their job accepts that as a cost to themselves, whether they go in 5 days a week or once a month. This would be different if you were self-employed and could claim, for example, mileage. However, I'm sure someone more knowledgable will be along to answer this soon. 

Have you looked on the HMRC website to see if your question is answered there? Perhaps on this page https://www.gov.uk/expenses-and-benefits-travel

westv

breaking_free said:

Logic tells me no. A person who commutes to their job accepts that as a cost to themselves, whether they go in 5 days a week or once a month. This would be different if you were self-employed and could claim, for example, mileage. However, I'm sure someone more knowledgable will be along to answer this soon. 

Have you looked on the HMRC website to see if your question is answered there? Perhaps on this page https://www.gov.uk/expenses-and-benefits-travel

Thanks for that. I'll check the link. My reasoning was that I was now not "commuting" but would be travelling between two work locations (my home and the office) rather than previously my home and my work location.

Grumpy_chap

I think this may be better asked on the Tax Cutting board.

What are the exact details of how your contract is written?
How often will be the "as and when required"?

There are detailed guidance on the work from home and hybrid employee provided at the following link:
https://www.gov.uk/hmrc-internal-manuals/employment-income-manual/eim32000

Given you say you would potentially be claiming relief against expenses of £6k per year, that suggests to me that you would be attending the office with relative frequency and the hybrid working example would suggest that attending the workplace is still considered ordinary commuting:
https://www.gov.uk/hmrc-internal-manuals/employment-income-manual/eim32174

I note that the hybrid working example linked is on a voluntary basis.  If your contract specifically says that normal place of work is "home" and that is not voluntary, then that might lend more strongly to the office being temporary workplace.

I have a similar situation in that my contract states work from home.  In the course of 12 months I have attended the office twice.  I have considered that as mileage expense against which I can claim tax relief.  It is very occasional and specifically planned events that required me to attend the office.  If I was attending the office, say, two days every week rather than two days in a year, then the attendance at the office might well become normal commuting.

I suspect the same rationale will apply to the way mileage expenses are treated as to whether you can claim the WFH tax relief against £6 per week.

westv

Grumpy_chap said:

I think this may be better asked on the Tax Cutting board.

What are the exact details of how your contract is written?
How often will be the "as and when required"?

There are detailed guidance on the work from home and hybrid employee provided at the following link:
https://www.gov.uk/hmrc-internal-manuals/employment-income-manual/eim32000

Given you say you would potentially be claiming relief against expenses of £6k per year, that suggests to me that you would be attending the office with relative frequency and the hybrid working example would suggest that attending the workplace is still considered ordinary commuting:
https://www.gov.uk/hmrc-internal-manuals/employment-income-manual/eim32174

I note that the hybrid working example linked is on a voluntary basis.  If your contract specifically says that normal place of work is "home" and that is not voluntary, then that might lend more strongly to the office being temporary workplace.

I have a similar situation in that my contract states work from home.  In the course of 12 months I have attended the office twice.  I have considered that as mileage expense against which I can claim tax relief.  It is very occasional and specifically planned events that required me to attend the office.  If I was attending the office, say, two days every week rather than two days in a year, then the attendance at the office might well become normal commuting.

I suspect the same rationale will apply to the way mileage expenses are treated as to whether you can claim the WFH tax relief against £6 per week.

I will ask on Tax board too.
Maybe £6k might be an overestimate. Since December I have only been to the office once (3 day visit) - it would have been twice (again for 3 days)  if there had been no rail strikes. I travelled to the office by train and stayed 2 nights in a hotel.