According to HMRC, travel from an employee’s home to their main office is not eligible for tax relief.

As the adoption of hybrid working models increases among office-based employees, there has been a significant discourse around whether trips to the office should be considered as ‘journeys in the performance of the duties of employment’.

Typically, travel expenses that are necessary for performing one’s job are eligible for tax relief.

However, HMRC maintains that commuting to and from the workplace, unless it is a temporary place of work, does not qualify for tax relief.

The rationale provided is that choosing to live at a particular location is a personal decision, and thus the costs associated with commuting from home to work are deemed personal expenses, not essential job requirements.

Nevertheless, HMRC has specified that if an employee performs substantial duties from home, as often seen in predominantly remote contracts, they may be entitled to tax relief for travel costs to the office.

This applies if such travel is necessary for the performance of their duties or is stipulated by their contract.

For those eligible, tax relief can be claimed at the following rates:

• 45p for cars and vans for the first ten thousand miles in each tax year
• 25p for cars and vans for each mile over ten thousand miles
• 24p for motorcycles
• 20p for bicycles

HMRC also offers a convenient online tool to help determine if individuals can claim relief on expenses incurred while performing their duties.

For further guidance on claiming tax relief on work-related expenses and to check your eligibility, please consult our expert team today.

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The Office of Tax Simplification (OTS) has announced an examination of the way businesses are adjusting to the increase in hybrid and remote work will be published next year.

The popularity of these working models has raised the question of whether those working remotely may be liable to income tax and social security if they are working abroad but are UK employees.

The review will look into the impact that employees working outside of the UK as well as working from home within the UK is having on tax and social security for businesses.

It will also aim to predict whether this trend of hybrid/home-working models is likely to increase and if it will see more UK employees working overseas.

The OTS review will look at how common remote and across borders working is becoming as statistics from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) show that 38 per cent of hybrid workers earn more than £40,000 and over a course of a seven-day period in May, worked away from the office at some point.

This comes after the Covid-19 pandemic greatly increased the benefits of working from home for many people and since then, the demand to work remotely in some capacity has continued to grow.

At the moment, UK employees working abroad usually pay tax in the jurisdictions that they are living in.

What could this mean for you?

If you or your employees within a UK company work remotely in a different country in any capacity, the findings in the upcoming OTS review will potentially change the rules when it comes to paying UK income tax and social security despite not ‘working’ in the UK.

It will also examine working from home and the implications that this is having on tax risk.

The report is due to be released in Spring next year and will potentially change the outlook on hybrid and remote working as the effects of the global pandemic continue to be seen.

For more advice on this, contact us today.

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