Are there tax exemptions on travel expenses?

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Costs of Travel for business purposes from the UK.

Suppose an employee of yours is travelling to mainland Europe for a business trip that might require a time period exceeding many months.

Have you considered the due taxation for such?

What could be the tax and NI position if you pay for a return trip to the UK exclusively for personal use?

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Travel Expenses are Liable to Taxation

If you pay for the travel expenses of an employee to or from their regular place of work, then it is deemed as personal. Thereby it is taxable pay.

However, there are a separate set of rules if the work goes abroad.

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As an employer, here is what you should be aware of:-

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The commencement and the end of the purported task

The first exemption is to do with the journeys at the start and end of employment. However, for UK employers, there are two conditions which must be adhered to in order for the exemption to be liable:-
The primary condition is that the task is fully out of the UK.
The second condition is the employee should be a UK taxpayer.

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The secondary exemption can be liable in any of the following scenarios:-

Where the work is wholly outside the UK and the employee is absent from the UK wholly and exclusively for work purposes.
The task can only be performed outside the UK
The tour starts in the country where the work is and ends in the UK or vice versa.

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Visit by family

An exemption can be allowed for the expenses of travel for visits by an employee’s immediate family members. This includes their spouse or partner and any children who may be under the age of 18.

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However, this exemption can only apply if the employee is out of the UK for an ongoing period of at least 60 days and the family member’s journey starts in the UK and ends in the domain of where the employee is located.

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Reach out for assistance with corporate travel tax exemptions or other business & personal tax exemptions.

Let's help you become more tax efficient.

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