I have a doctor who has an employment contract with a hospital trust.
The doctor is required to work at any 3 hospitals in the North West region. Am I right in saying if he is sent to work for one of these hospitals for a temporary purpose of a limited duration which forms less than 40% of his overall employment with the Trust, the travel from his home to this temporary place of work is deductible?
I have checked HMRC guidance and it seems the critical point is if the work is temporary and for a limited duration. If I can establish he works for Hospital A for most of the time and is sent to work at Hospital B and C for short bursts, the "less than 40% temporary workplace" rule applies?
I just wondered if any of you had similar circumstances?
Replies (8)
Please login or register to join the discussion.
Or ...
... arguably, he has 3 permanent workplaces, in which case the geographical area rules would not apply. Travel between the permanent workplaces would be allowable, but travel between his home and any one of them would be regular commuting and not allowable. See paras. 3.20 to 3.21 on page 17 of Booklet 490 and the example of Florence.
Also, you might have 2 permanent workplaces and 1 temporary workplace amongst your 3 hospitals.
It depends on his working pattern.
Not temporary workplace
I wouldn't read too much into the written employment contract with Trust A and the lack of a written contract with Trust B, as there is clearly an implied one.
The facts are that he is working for a different employer at the Trust B hospital (presumably, not the same as hospital B under Trust A) for a fixed term and hence, it cannot be a temporary workplace and is therefore a permanent workplace, to which he commutes on a regular basis and the travel costs are not allowable. As Portia has said, it might have been different if his original employer (Trust A) had sent him to work at one of their other hospitals.