EIM21832 – Particular benefits: late night taxis: first condition: later than usual and until at least 9pm
Section 248(2) (a) ITEPA 2003
In certain circumstances there is an exemption from the benefit
in kind charge that would otherwise arise where an employer
provides a late night taxi for an employee to travel home from work
(see
EIM21831).
The exemption can apply only where the four late night
working conditions are satisfied (
EIM21831), and is limited to the first
60 such journeys in a year.
The first of the late night working conditions is that the
employee is required to work later than usual
and until at least 9pm. See
EIM21833 and
EIM21834 for more information on the
other conditions.
Employee required to work later than usual and until at least 9pm
Both legs of this condition must be satisfied.
In most cases it is clear whether an employee who works until
at least 9pm is also required to work
later than usual. Something is usual if it
conforms to a common or ordinary pattern. Section 248(2)(a) is
intended to ensure that the exemption applies in circumstances
where an employee who normally finishes work before 9pm is required
on occasion, to work later than usual and until at least 9pm.
The second leg of this condition is a question of fact. For
some employees it is usual to work until 9pm or later, for others
it is not.
Examples
- Most employees who work in a restaurant or pub are required to
work late most nights and until at least 9pm (unless perhaps they
usually work a shift earlier in the day). Consequently if a member
of bar staff who usually works until closing time is provided with
a taxi home when the pub shuts, the exemption does not apply
because it is usual for this employee to work late and until at
least 9pm. The journey home is treated like any other ordinary
commuting journey.
- A secretary who normally works from 9am to 5pm is required by
her manager to work late one evening to help finish a job. She
works until 10pm and then the employer provides a taxi to take her
home. As she was required to work later than usual, and until after
9pm, she satisfies the terms of the first condition of the
exemption. See EIM21833 and EIM21834 to see whether the other late
night working conditions are also satisfied . If, however, the
employee had decided voluntarily to work until 10pm but had not
been required to do so by her employer, the use of a taxi for her
journey home would not satisfy the first condition as she had not
been required by her employer to work later than usual.
- An employee is contracted to work from 12.00 am to 8 pm but commonly works until 10pm or later. This employee has an established pattern of late night working. Consequently if the employer provides a taxi to take the employee home on a day when he has been required by his employer to work beyond his contracted hours and later than 9pm, but no later than his established working pattern, the exemption does not apply because he is not working later than usual.
Other late night working conditions
For the exemption to apply the other late night working conditions must also be satisfied – see EIM21833 and EIM21834.
