New guidance on commuting expenses for hybrid workers
You probably know that you can’t claim tax relief for the expenses associated with travelling to your usual place of work. However, what is the position if you're a “hybrid” worker? The guidance on this has recently been updated for clarity, so what's the answer?
The rules surrounding which journeys you can and cannot claim tax relief for travel expenses are complex, resulting in HMRC publishing guidance with over 50 examples. As a general rule, there is no tax relief for the cost of a journey which is ordinary commuting or private travel. Ordinary commuting means travel to and from a permanent workplace.
For hybrid workers, a question arises as to whether their home or their office should be considered to be their permanent workplace. The guidance on the tax deductibility of commuting expenses for hybrid workers (those who have the flexibility to choose whether to work from home or in the office) has been updated. This puts beyond doubt that journeys from home to a base office will be ordinary commuting. Therefore, tax relief is not available for such costs.
Note that the situation is different if the homeworking arrangements are not voluntary. For example, if you must work from home as a requirement of your job, you should be able to claim tax relief for expenses incurred travelling to your employer.
Related Topics
-
Electronic VAT return and payment due
-
HMRC checks directors’ loans are paid up
HMRC is writing to agents to check corporation tax returns for previous years are correct as it used to be possible to add a future date for an anticipated loan repayment. What’s the issue and what should you do if your advisor receives a letter?
-
Working from home tax relief scrapped in Budget
Employees who are required to work from home are currently able to claim tax relief at a flat rate of £6 per week. That's changing from 6 April 2026. What's the full story?