Private ruling: Home to Work Travel Expenses
Date of advice: 11 August 2016
Published: September 2016
Ruling period: Income year ending 30 June 2016
Date scheme commenced: 1 July 2015

Ruling: Q1: Can you claim expenses for travel from home to work? | A1: No

Relevant facts and circumstances: You are employed as a relief employee. You are required to attend different work places each day. You travel from your home to one work place each day. You rarely attend more than one work place each day.

Relevant legislative provisions: Income Tax Assessment Act 1997 Section 8-1

Reasons for decision: Summary: Section 8-1 of the Income Tax Assessment Act 1997 broadly allows a deduction for any losses or outgoings to the extent to which they are incurred in gaining or producing assessable income except to the extent outgoings are of a capital, private or domestic nature. A deduction is generally not allowable for the cost of travel between home and work as it is considered to be a private expense. The cost of travelling between home and work is generally incurred to put the employee in a position to perform duties of employment, rather than in the performance of those duties. A deduction may be allowed for home to work travel expenses in certain exceptional circumstances, for example, where the employee's employment is inherently of an itinerant nature, that is, shifting places of work. Taxation Ruling TR 95/34 Income tax: employees carrying out itinerant work - deductions, allowances and reimbursements for transport expenses (TR 95/34) provides guidelines for establishing whether an employee is carrying out itinerant work. A copy of this Taxation Ruling is available on our website www.ato.gov.au. The following characteristics have emerged from cases as being indicators of itinerancy: a) travel is a fundamental part of the employee's work, that is, the employee is travelling on their work as distinct from travelling to work; b) the existence of a web of work places (no fixed place of work) in the employee's regular employment; c) the employee continually travels from one work place to another before returning to their usual place of residence; and d) other factors that may indicate itinerancy (to a lesser degree) include: i) the employee has a degree of uncertainty of location in their employment, that is, no long-term plan and no regular pattern exists; ii) the employee's home constitutes a base of operations; iii) the employee has to carry bulky equipment from home to different work places; and iv) the employer provides an allowance in recognition of the employee's need to travel continually between different work places. The characteristics above provide guidelines for determining whether an employee's work is itinerant. It is considered that no single factor on its own is necessarily decisive. The question of whether an employee's work is itinerant is one of fact, to be determined according to individual circumstances. Your circumstances as a relief employee are similar to the example given in paragraph 92 of the Taxation Ruling, where a relief bank employee was found not to be an itinerant worker: 92. Cathy is a relief bank employee attached to a central branch. Apart from her regular duties she also performs relief work at nominated branches within a given area. Cathy is normally aware of the branches she must attend for relief duties well in advance, although she may occasionally be called at short notice. Cathy is not engaged in itinerant employment because: a) travel is not a fundament part of her employment; b) there is no continual travel from one work site to another. Upon commencement of her duties at a branch she is not required to travel; c) the uncertainty in her employment is minimal. She is generally aware in advance of the branch she must attend; and d) she has several regular places of employment. In the ATO's view, you are not an itinerant worker and are not eligible to claim expenses for your travel from home to work for the following reasons: a) travel is not considered a fundamental part of your work; b) you are not continually travelling from one work place to another before returning to your place of residence. You attend one work place for the duration of each day; c) the degree of uncertainty you experience is not sufficient to support your employment as being itinerant. Although you are not required to attend the same work place each day, you are generally aware of your commitments in advance; and d) you have several regular or fixed places of employment.