SE03105A - Removal or transfer costs: qualifying expenses and benefits: main conditions: extension of time limit: examples

Part II Schedule 11A ICTA1988

Children on examination courses

The Board may extend the date by which relocation costs may be incurred for the purposes of qualifying for the £8,000 exemption ( SE03105).

This function is delegated to Band B Team Leaders where an employee's relocation is delayed to allow a child or children to complete public examination courses such as GCSEs and "A" levels. The following paragraphs provide further guidance in this area.

The normal case

The first consideration in such cases is to establish the date when the employee's circumstances at work changed, and ensure that a child was at that date involved in a course which had not been completed. Where this is so it is usual to extend the time limit to the 5th April next following completion of the course.

Other considerations

In the examples which follow it is assumed the employee was transferred to a new location in March 1998 in which case the relevant date for incurring relocation costs is 5 April 1999. The employee's children take the examination courses shown.

Example 1

Nita was attending a GCSE course between September 1997 - June 1999 and then was due to move on to an A level course between September 1999 - June 2001.

Here you would normally extend the time limit to 5 April 2000. It is not necessary to take account of another course that starts after completion of the first course. The employee had 18 months to September 1999 to arrange for the change of residence.

If this could not be accomplished between June - September 1999, the legislation attempts to help by including as eligible for exemption travel and subsistence costs for a child who temporarily goes ahead to the new location or is left behind at the old location.

Example 2

Nita was attending a GCSE course between September 1997 - June 1999 and intended to move on to A levels from September 1999 - June 2001. Bill was on a GCSE course between September 1998 - June 2000 and intended to do A levels between September 2000 - June 2002.

Where an employee has two or more children it is possible for a second course to start before the first course ends and then for a third course to start before the second course ends. Indeed there may be a series of overlapping courses.

In the Revenue's view it is reasonable to expect a child who is in the middle of a public examination course to stay on in the same educational establishment. In this example, uncompleted courses overlap to the extent that it would be reasonable to extend the time limit to 5 April 2003.

Example 3

Nita was attending a GCSE course between September 1998 - June 2000.

We accept it will not always be possible for an employee to effect a change of residence before a child commences a public examination course.

If the employee is unable to sell the old residence between March - September 1998 and the child has to continue her education at the old location it will be reasonable to extend the time limit on account of both the selling delay and the child's education.

There are no hard and fast rules to say what is reasonable since much depends on the length of the selling period available, market conditions, and the effort the employee puts into changing residence. But the less time available between the date the employee's work location changes and the start of the child's examination course, the more reasonable it will be to extend the time limit.

Cases of doubt

These examples cannot cover every possible eventuality. In cases of doubt advice may be sought from Employment Income Technical.