What is a permanent workplace and how does it affect my travel expenses?

A recent First Tier Tribunal case looked at travel expenses for an employee and has put a spotlight on what counts as your permanent workplace. This matters because only travel expenses to places other than your permanent workplace can be paid without being taxed.  

What are the tax rules on travel expenses for employees? 

When you incur certain expenses as part of your job, your employer may reimburse you for those expenses or if they don’t do so, you may claim tax relief on those employment expenses. One of the most common employment expenses is travel costs and the rules and guidance surrounding travel costs are vast. Some travel costs are tax deductible, some are not and, in some cases, an allowance can be claimed in lieu of the actual costs incurred.  

One of the key rules is that travel to and from a permanent workplace by an employee is not tax deductible.  

A simple case – ordinary commuting 

For instance, an employee lives 10 miles away from their office, where they work four days a week (with the fifth day worked from home). They drive to the office and back each of those four days, a total of 80 miles per week. They cannot claim expenses for these 80 miles travelled as the travel is to their permanent workplace and is considered to be ordinary commuting.  

A temporary workplace 

However, one week their employer requests that they go to work at another site for two days to help a new member of staff there. This site is 30 miles from the employee’s home address and 25 miles from their normal office. They can claim travel expenses as this is not their permanent workplace.  

The lower of: 

• The distance from home to the temporary workplace, and 
• The distance from the permanent workplace to the temporary workplace can be claimed as a travel expense. 

What is a permanent workplace? 

HMRC’s guidance states that your place of work is a permanent workplace if you “attend it regularly for the performance of the duties of the employment”. This is simple for most people, as in the example above – if you work in an office, factory or retail store, it is likely that location will be your permanent workplace.  

But with modern hybrid working and more flexible working arrangements, many employees may not have as simple a picture when understanding what their permanent workplace is.  

Working from home 

If you work from home for all your normal working time, your home is likely to be your permanent workplace. It also follows that if you work from home 100% of the time, you won’t have any travel expenses so it is unlikely you will be reading this article!  

It is more likely that you either have a hybrid working arrangement – for example working some days in your employer’s location and some days from home – or you are occasionally asked to work somewhere else – a temporary workplace - in order to do your job.  

Hybrid working – more than one permanent workplace? 

Hybrid working has exploded in popularity since the COVID-19 pandemic, initially through the necessity of home working during the various UK lockdowns and Government work-from-home mandates. Many employees have contracts or informal arrangements to work a number of days per week or month in the office and several days per week or month from home.  

Typically, HMRC will view both the office and home as permanent workplaces when there is a regular attendance at both places, and the work duties at the second location are not temporary or of limited duration.  

If you attend the second workplace for: 

• 40% or more of your working time (regular attendance), and 
• for more than two years (not temporary or limited duration) it will be deemed to be permanent.  

The default position remains that travel expenses for home to office travel are not tax deductible, as it is still considered ordinary commuting.  

Working across different sites – more than one permanent workplace? 

If you don’t work from home, but do work across two or more sites, there may be a different answer.  

For example, you are an optometrist and work across two optician’s stores in different towns across your working week. Travel from home to either store would not be deductible (ordinary commuting), but travel between the two stores would be deductible as ‘travel in the performance of duties’. 

The stores are both considered to be permanent workplaces and the travel between them (but not to and from either store from home) can be claimed. 

Working across a specified area 

Let’s also consider employees who work across an area or ‘patch’. For example, as sales rep may cover a city, region or postcode area and travel across that patch regularly.  

The entire patch is considered to be a permanent workplace if: 

• there is no single permanent workplace such as an office or working from home 
• the area or patch is attended regularly  
• their employment duties are defined by the area or patch  

What does the new case law mean for me? 

The new case law – Kwai [2026] TC 09952 – concerns geographical area as a permanent workplace. The taxpayer had been claiming for travel expenses from their home in Essex to locations around London. The Tribunal found that London was their permanent workplace and as such travel between locations in London was allowed as travel in the performance of duties, but not travel to and from home, as this was ordinary commuting.  

HMRC successfully argued that the pattern of work was entirely in London and this made London the permanent workplace without needing to show that the taxpayer’s work contract specifically defined her patch as London. This means HMRC could potentially use the geographical area rules more widely in future. 

If you work across lots of locations, speak to your employer for reassurance about what travel expenses you can claim.  

How TaxAssist Accountants can help 

If you are an employee or employer who may be affected by the Kwai case law or any other questions about which travel expenses are deductible, speak to TaxAssist Accountants on 0800 0523 555 or contact us online today. 

Last updated 17 Sep 2026 | First published 17 Sep 2026

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This article is intended to inform rather than advise and is based on legislation and practice at the time. Taxpayer’s circumstances do vary and if you feel that the information provided is beneficial it is important that you contact us before implementation. If you take, or do not take action as a result of reading this article, before receiving our written endorsement, we will accept no responsibility for any financial loss incurred.

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