Private ruling: Home to work travel
Published: November 2013
Ruling period: Year ended 30 June 2014
Date scheme commenced: 1 July 2013

Ruling: Q1: Are you entitled to a deduction for home to work travel? | A1: No.


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) deals with general deductions and allows a deduction for all losses or outgoings to the extent to which they are incurred in gaining or producing assessable income, except to the extent that they are outgoings of a capital, private or domestic nature. Generally the expenses of travel to and from work are not deductible. This is either because such expenditure is private in nature, or because it is not an expense incurred in gaining or producing assessable income. However, the Commissioner accepts that expenses incurred by employees in travelling to and from work are deductible in certain circumstances. One of the exceptions to the general view is where the employee is required to transport bulky equipment necessary for employment. Paragraphs 63 and 64 of Taxation Ruling TR 95/34 explain that a deduction may be allowed in circumstances where: the cost can be attributed to the transportation of bulky equipment rather than to private travel between home and work it is essential to transport the equipment to and from work and it is not done as a matter of convenience or personal choice, and there are no secure facilities available for storage of the bulky equipment at the work place. In Crestani v. FC of T 98 ATC 2219; (1998) 40 ATR 1037 (Crestani's Case) , a toolbox was considered of significant bulk, in the sense of cumbersome, such that the transport cost was attributable to the transportation of such bulky equipment rather than private travel between home and work. The employer did not provide a secure storage area for the toolbox and the use of public transport was not a viable option. In your case, you take home the daily takings in a small steel money box which weighs about five kilograms. Based on your individual circumstances, it is not considered that the money box is sufficiently cumbersome or heavy to be considered bulky. Therefore, you are not entitled to a deduction for home to work travel.

You take your daily takings home with you in a money box that weighs about five kilograms and return them to work with you in the morning. | There is no safe on the business premises and nowhere to secure the money. | You cannot afford to hire an armed car to transport the money.