SE32380 - Travel expenses: up to and including 1997/98 - employee on stand-by

The fact that an employee is on "stand-by", or may be called out to work as and when needed, does not in itself affect the treatment of his or her travelling expenses under the old travel rules.

In Pook v Owen (45TC571) Lord Wilberforce commented at page 595

"The mere fact of being on stand-by duty is not enough"....[to qualify for a deduction]..."Nor, in my opinion, is the mere fact sufficient that he might be called upon, or might volunteer, to give some professional advice on the telephone before setting out. There are persons who hold positions of importance, who carry their responsibility with them wherever they are: they too may be called to their offices after working hours.....But this does not mean that they have more than one working place: cf. Newsom v Robertson (33TC452). What is required is proof to the satisfaction of the fact-finding Commissioners that the taxpayer, in a real sense, in respect of the office or employment in question, had two places of work, and that the expenses were incurred in travelling from one to the other in the performance of his duties".

The same principle applies to the new travel rules that apply to 1998/99 and later years, see SE32250.