EIM32305 - Travel expenses: travel for necessary attendance: safeguards against abuse: journeys treated as ordinary commuting: example

An employee is a teacher who normally travels the 15 miles to his school by moped. One day he has to visit a parent of one of his pupils to discuss the child’s end of term report. The parent lives 1½ miles beyond the school. To save time he takes his car and drives along his ordinary commuting route, past the school and on to the parent’s home. After his discussion with the parent he drives the 1½ miles back to school.

The parent’s home is a temporary workplace. The journey from home to the parent’s home is along the same route as the employee’s ordinary commuting journey and is substantially the same length. So it is substantially ordinary commuting, see EIM32300. No deduction is due for the cost of the journey.

The fact that the employee uses a different mode of transport from normal does not effect the outcome. Regardless of the mode of transport this is substantially ordinary commuting.