SE32410 - Other expenses: assistant's wages

As a general rule, payments made by an employee to someone else for assistance in carrying out the employee’s duties will not be deductible under Section 198(1) ICTA 1988.

If another holder of that job could carry out all of the duties without assistance the expense could not be one that each and every holder of the employment would have to incur, see SE31640. Also, the expense is not incurred in performing the duties of the employment but in paying someone else to perform those duties, see SE31650.

This rule was approved by the Courts in the cases of Lothian v Macrae (2TC65) and Jardine v Gillespie (5TC263).

There are a number of exceptions to the general rule, see SE32415.