EIM32160 - Travel expenses: travel for necessary attendance: depots and similar bases

Section 339(4) ITEPA 2003

Where an employee regularly attends a workplace because:

• it is the base from which he or she works, or
• it is the place at which he or she is routinely allocated tasks

that workplace is deemed to be a permanent workplace and not a temporary workplace. Attendance should not be regarded as being of a limited duration or for a temporary purpose. This rule is illustrated by example EIM32161.

This does not mean that every place from which an employee works or at which he or she is allocated tasks must be a permanent workplace. A depot or similar workplace will be a permanent workplace only if:

• the employee attends it regularly and
• the main reason the employee goes there is because it is the place from which he or she works or at which he or she is routinely allocated tasks.

Example EIM32162 illustrates a case in which a place at which an employee is allocated tasks is not a permanent workplace.

However, where an employee regularly attends a workplace to be routinely allocated tasks while there, that workplace will be a permanent workplace even if certain tasks are allocated to the employee elsewhere. This is illustrated by examples EIM32163 and EIM32164.

When considering whether a workplace is a temporary workplace, you should also consider the other tests listed at EIM32075.