Private ruling: Travel to medical appointments
Date of advice: 19 September 2018
Published: October 2018
Ruling period: Year ended 30 June 2018
Date scheme commenced: 1 July 2017

Ruling: Q1: Are you entitled to a deduction for travel under direction of your employer to attend medical appointments for treatment of personal ailments? | A1: No

Relevant facts and circumstances: You are an Australian Defence Force employee and you used your private vehicle to travel from your usual place of work to a medical centre for work related rehabilitation under medical officer’s direction. In some cases you then returned to base, and at other times you then travelled home. You also incurred private vehicle expense to travel from your base for periodic specialist care, other specialist medical treatment, and then returning to base. All of these visits were specified by your supervising medical officer and treatment costs were paid for by your employer.

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 (ITAA 1997) allows a deduction for a loss or outgoing to the extent to which it is incurred in gaining or producing assessable income, except where the loss or outgoing is of a capital, private or domestic nature, or relates to the earning of exempt income. Taxation Ruling TR 95/17 Income tax: employee work-related deductions of employees of the Australian Defence Force which deals with deductions for work-related expenses generally claimed by ADF members, provides: Travel for medical appointments: A deduction is allowable for expenses incurred in travelling to and from base for official medical appointments. A deduction is not allowable for expenses of travelling to personal medical appointments (paragraphs 255 to 257). Travel for medical appointments 255. ADF members are subject to regular medical check-ups. They may also be ordered to attend the Medical Corps for consultations, e.g., fitness assessments. 256. The expense of travelling to official medical appointments is an allowable deduction where the expense has not been reimbursed or where ADF transport is not used. 257. Travel for any other medical appointments which are needed due to personal ailments (e.g., driving to the in service dentist for treatment) is private. The fact that an expense is incurred by an employee at the direction of his or her employer does not mean that a deduction is automatically allowable. In your situation, you travel to medical appointments for rehabilitation purposes is travel for treatment of personal ailments, and as such is private in nature. Similarly, your travel for periodic specialist care, and other specialist treatment was also for treatment of personal ailments is also private in nature. The reference ‘to the extent’ in section 8-1 of the ITAA 1997 therefore has no application as the whole purpose of the travel was for private purposes and therefore no apportionment of your travel expenses is necessary.