SE35100 - Travelling expenses: employees working but not domiciled in the United Kingdom - meaning of travelling expenses

Section 195 (7) and (8) ICTA 1988

The legislation relating to the rules described at SE35030 and SE35050 uses the following terms:

• expenses incurred on a journey and
• travel facilities provided for any journey

They are not defined but they should all be read as covering both

• fares and
• subsistence expenditure while travelling

Example

If an employee travels from Milan to the United Kingdom to work at the employer’s office in London, Section 195(7) allows the travel costs of a journey described in subsection (4)

“…from his usual place of abode to any place in the United Kingdom…”.

If the individual travels by train, eats meals on the train and stays overnight in a hotel to break the journey, all of the following costs are allowable subject to all of the relevant conditions being satisfied:

• Rail fare
• Meal costs
• Cost of hotel accommodation while on a journey.

The subsistence is part of the journey.

However, if the employer pays for the employee’s hotel accommodation in London no deduction is possible under Section 195.