Private ruling: Home to work travel
Published: October 2014
Ruling period: Year ended 30 June 2014 | Year ended 30 June 2015 | Year ended 30 June 2016 | Year ended 30 June 2017 | Year ended 30 June 2018
Date scheme commenced: The scheme has commenced

Ruling: Q1: Are you entitled to a deduction for travel between home and your usual work or casual activities? | 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 allows a deduction for all losses and outgoings to the extent to which they are incurred in gaining or producing assessable income, except where the outgoings are of a capital, private or domestic nature, or relate to the earning of exempt income. 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. The cost of travel 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 (see paragraph 77 of Taxation Ruling TR 95/34 Income tax: employees carrying out itinerant work - deductions, allowances and reimbursements for transport expenses). However, there are situations where it has been accepted that travel by employees from home to work is deductible. Taxation Ruling IT 2543 Income Tax : Transport Allowances : Deductibility Of Expenses Incurred In Travelling Between Home And Work, summarises these situations as follows: (a) the taxpayer's home constitutes a place of employment and travel is between two places of employment or business; (b) the taxpayer's employment can be construed as having commenced before or at the time of leaving home; (c) the taxpayer has to transport by vehicle bulky equipment necessary for employment; (d) the taxpayer's employment is inherently of an itinerant nature; (e) the taxpayer is required to break his or her normal journey to perform employment duties (other than including incidental duties such as collecting newspapers, mail, etc.) on the way from home to the usual place of employment, or from the place of employment to home. In your case, we accept that you have a large number of locations where you perform your duties. However, the only situation that may apply in your circumstances is whether your equipment is considered to be bulky. The question of what constitutes bulky equipment must be considered according to the individual circumstances in each case. To establish if the equipment you carry is bulky, consideration must be given to its size and weight. In Crestani v. FC of T 98 ATC 2219; (1998) 40 ATR 1037, a toolbox which measured 57 x 28 x 25 centimetres and weighed 27 kilograms was considered as bulky, in the sense of cumbersome, and 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, while we accept that you have to carry your clothing and personal effects, these are not considered to be equipment for the purposes of determining bulky equipment. It is considered that the equipment bag, text books and computer equipment are not sufficiently bulky to change the nature of your travel. Therefore, you are not entitled to a deduction for home to work travel.

Relevant facts: You are a specialist professional. | You work at several sites in a capital city and several regional country sites. | One position is permanent part-time. | The other positions you hold are as a casual. | The casual work is offered in groups of four to seven days in a row. | The employers provide accommodation for the days you are rostered on and in some cases, you are provided with a car for personal and work use. | The employers pay you an amount for travel which is rolled into your gross salary. | You are required to carry an equipment bag, several text books, a laptop computer and accessories and personal clothing and effects.