WFH & Travel Expenses Tax Question

westv

I asked this question on the "Work" board but it was suggested I also ask here:-

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?

Grumpy_chap

Original thread here:
https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/6367424/wfh-travel-expenses-tax-question#latest

Jeremy535897

It is unlikely as the main office is not going to be a temporary workplace.

westv

Jeremy535897 said:

It is unlikely as the main office is not going to be a temporary workplace.

My official location is now my home. Visits to the office will be irregular - maybe four or five times a year.

Jeremy535897

It isn't just a question of irregularity. You can read up on it here:
https://www.gov.uk/hmrc-internal-manuals/employment-income-manual/eim32065

westv

Jeremy535897 said:

It isn't just a question of irregularity. You can read up on it here:
https://www.gov.uk/hmrc-internal-manuals/employment-income-manual/eim32065

I did read it but I did found it a little confusing.
It didn't seem to include the specific question of wfh but attending an office on an irregular basis.
It mentions travelling more than 40% of the time and it mentions travelling to a temporary workplace but thete doesnt seem to be mention of in between. I will check again though.
I'm surprised nobody here has the same situation as me and can tell me how they got on.

Jeremy535897

The temporary workplace rule is more designed to deal with the case where the employee works on a site and moves on to the next one when it is finished. It is most unlikely that HMRC would accept the main office you use when you don't work from home is a "temporary" workplace, and travel from one permanent workplace (home) to another (main office) is not allowable.

jimmo

Having a permanent remote working contract could be insufficient to justify a claim for working from home and, if a claim for that fails a claim for travelling expenses will also fail.

With regard to working from home see the following

EIM32760 - Other expenses: home: working from home - HMRC internal manual - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)

Note in particular the final bullet point.

 When it comes to travelling expenses the test is much more severe.

EIM32370 - Travel expenses: travel in the performance of the duties: travel to and from home where it is a place of work - HMRC internal manual - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)