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EIM34050 | Foreign travel rules: duties performed wholly or partly abroad: travelling expenses of the employee's family

From HM Revenue & Customs · Employment Income Manual

Section 371 ITEPA 2003

Summary

This page is concerned with the travelling expenses of an employee who works partly or wholly abroad.

Conditions

  • The employee must be resident in the United Kingdom (see EIM34010) and

  • the employee's taxable earnings must include an amount in respect of:

    • the provision of travel facilities for a journey made by the employee's spouse, civil partner or child, or

    • the reimbursement of expenses incurred by the employee on such a journey.

Other factors:

  • the employee is absent from the United Kingdom for a continuous period of at least 60 days for the purpose of performing the duties of one or more employments (see example EIM34060 for details of the 60 days rule)

  • the journey is between a place in the United Kingdom and a place outside the United Kingdom where such duties are performed

  • the employee's spouse, civil partner or child is:

    • accompanying the employee at the beginning of the period of absence

    • visiting the employee during that period, or

    • returning to the United Kingdom after so accompanying or visiting the employee.

Nature of the deduction

The deduction is equal to the amount included in the employee's taxable earnings in respect of the travel facilities provided for the journey or the reimbursed expenses of the journey. In most cases, the employer will have provided the travel facilities or reimbursed the expense. Allow the cost of up to:

  • two outward journeys (from the United Kingdom to the overseas workplace, see EIM34070) and

  • two inward journeys (from the overseas workplace to the United Kingdom)

in any tax year by each member of the employee's family, if all of the above conditions are satisfied.

Meaning of family

Family for this purpose includes:

  • the employee's spouse

  • the employee’s civil partner

  • the employee's children. The term includes any stepchild, adopted child or illegitimate child but not a child over the age of 18 at the beginning of the outward journey.

Additional information

The deduction only covers the travel costs of the family. Once the family arrives at the overseas workplace no deduction can be given for their accommodation or subsistence. If the employer meets the cost of the family's accommodation or subsistence the cost will be taxable earnings of the employee.