Private ruling: Motor vehicle travel expenses
Date of advice: 7 October 2016
Published: December 2016
Ruling period: Year ending 30 June 2017 | Year ending 30 June 2016
Date scheme commenced: 1 July 2015

Ruling: Q1: Are you entitled to a deduction for your motor vehicle expenses to travel from home to your first workplace? | A1: No. | Q2: Are you entitled to a deduction for motor vehicle expenses when travelling between different workplaces in the one shift? | A2: Yes. | Q3: Are you entitled to a deduction for your motor vehicle expenses to travel from your last workplace to home at the end of your shift? | A3: No.

Relevant facts and circumstances: You are employed as a domestic worker. You work shift work where in some instances you will work at one workplace in the morning and travel home until you are required at another location for an afternoon shift. Some days you will work at one workplace and travel in your car to another workplace and home from the second workplace.

Relevant legislative provisions: Income Tax Assessment Act 1997 Section 8-1. Further issues for you to consider | If you wish to claim a deduction for travel of more than 5000klms, you are required to substantiate this travel with a logbook.

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. Travel between home and work A deduction is generally not allowable for the cost of travel by an employee between home and their normal workplace as it is considered to be a private expense (Lunney v. Federal Commissioner of Taxation (1958) 100 CLR 478; 11 ATD 404) (Taxation Ruling IT 112). 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. Put at its simplest, travel to work is private; travel on work is business. It should be noted that the mode of transport, the availability of transport, the lack of suitable public transport, the erratic times of employment, the time of travel, the distance of travel and the necessity of travel does not alter the essential character of travel between home and work as being private in nature. In your case the travel between your home and your workplace and vice versa even on days when you have two shifts in the one day at different locations. This travel is considered the same as travel between home and work; therefore you cannot claim a deduction for this travel. Travel between two different work sites. After commencing your duties where you are required to travel to a different worksite it is considered you are travelling on work rather than to work as the travel is undertaken in the performance of your duties. In your case, you commence your employment duties when you arrive at the first workplace. On some occasions you will finish work at this workplace and travel directly to another workplace at another location. Consequently it is considered that you start your employment duties at workplace one and finish at workplace two and the travel incurred is to continue your work with your employer. Therefore you will be entitled to claim a deduction for your travel expenses for this portion of your journey.