3.16
Where a visit is self-contained (that is, arranged for a particular reason rather than as part of a series of visits to the same workplace for the continuation of a particular task) it is likely to be for a temporary purpose.
Example
Fred is a safety officer at his employer’s Nottingham office. He visits the employer’s Derby factory every week to carry out a particular safety check. His responsibility for that factory has been a duty of his employment for a period already spanning 20 years (so it’s not of limited duration).
However, the tasks he performs on each visit are self-contained and the purpose of each visit, considered alone, is temporary. Fred is entitled to tax relief for the full cost of his travel.
Example
Gail is the finance director of a large company based in Scunthorpe. Once a fortnight her duties take her to the company’s production unit in the South East. Her visits are to consider individual investment proposals but she takes the opportunity to discuss local welfare issues as a representative of senior management.
The purpose of the visits is not linked, each one is self-contained. So the production unit is not Gail’s permanent workplace and she is entitled to tax relief for the full cost of her business travel.
Example
Peter lives in Wolverhampton and has a permanent workplace in Birmingham. He is a director of a company which has a number of regional offices.
He has to attend a directors’ meeting each Friday in Stafford. Although the directors’ meetings are regularly held in the same place, Stafford does not become a permanent workplace for Peter because each visit is for a temporary purpose. So he is entitled to tax relief for the cost of his travel from home to Stafford.
Example
Gemma is employed as a school teacher in Oswestry which is a permanent workplace. Every fortnight she goes to an education authority meeting in Bridgnorth. She is entitled to tax relief for her travel from home to Bridgnorth because while she goes there regularly each visit is for a temporary purpose.
Where a second workplace is attended for a meeting and other duties are also carried out there for the sake of efficiency, the duration of time spent at the second workplace should not be considered in isolation.
If a meeting is for a temporary purpose and normal duties are performed either side of the meeting to maximise the employee’s use of time, it does not make the second workplace a permanent one. Provided the employee is genuinely attending the second workplace for a temporary purpose and would not normally have been there otherwise, it follows that the second workplace would likely to be a temporary workplace.