Employee travel: temporary workplaces and the 24 month rule

An employee can claim, or be paid tax free, the full cost of travel to a temporary workplace, meaning somewhere attended only for a task of limited duration or a temporary purpose. A site stops being temporary once the employee spends, or expects to spend, 40% or more of their working time there over a period that lasts, or is likely to last, more than 24 months. The test looks at the expectation at each point in time, so relief can start or stop part way through a posting.

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Why is some travel to work deductible and some not?

Section 338 ITEPA 2003 allows a deduction for travel expenses attributable to the employee’s necessary attendance at any place in the performance of the duties. Section 338(2) then excludes ordinary commuting, which section 338(3) defines as travel between home, or another place that is not a workplace, and a permanent workplace. Travel in the performance of the duties, such as driving between two offices during the day, is covered separately by section 337.

So the whole question turns on whether the destination is a permanent workplace. Section 339(2) defines one as a place the employee regularly attends in the performance of the duties which is not a temporary workplace. HMRC’s guide 490 confirms that travel expenses include subsistence and other associated costs of the journey, and that relief is normally for the full cost, not just the extra cost compared with the usual commute.

What makes a workplace temporary in the first place?

Under section 339(3) a temporary workplace is one the employee attends to perform a task of limited duration or for some other temporary purpose. EIM32075 stresses that regular attendance does not prevent a place being temporary if each visit is for that kind of task. A consultant visiting a client’s office weekly for a six month project is the typical case.

Two points are easily missed. First, the 24 month rule is only relevant if the place is capable of being temporary under section 339(3); EIM32080 gives the example of a place attended for only 20% of the time that is still permanent because the attendance is not for a limited duration or temporary purpose. Second, section 339(4) makes a regularly attended depot or base permanent if it is where the duties are based or where tasks are allocated (EIM32160).

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How does the 24 month rule and the 40% test work?

Section 339(5) says a place is not a temporary workplace if attendance is in the course of a period of continuous work there lasting more than 24 months, or at a time when it is reasonable to assume it will be. Section 339(6) defines a period of continuous work as one over which the duties are performed to a significant extent at the place. The legislation does not give a percentage; HMRC treats duties as performed to a significant extent if the employee spends 40% or more of their working time there (EIM32080, and paragraph 3.19 of booklet 490).

Both limbs must be met before the site becomes permanent:

Time at the site	Expected period	Result
40% or more	24 months or less	Temporary workplace, travel relieved
Less than 40%	More than 24 months	Temporary workplace, travel relieved
40% or more	More than 24 months	Permanent workplace, ordinary commuting

HMRC’s examples show the 40% is measured against the employee’s actual working time. In EIM32092 a part time worker employed two days a week who spends one of those days at another branch for 32 months is at that branch 50% of the time, so it is a permanent workplace even though it is only one day a week. By contrast, in EIM32086 an engineer who spends one and a half days a week at Wrexham for 28 months is below 40%, so Wrexham stays temporary.

What happens when the posting is extended or cut short?

The rule is applied by reference to what it is reasonable to expect, and it can change during the posting.

Extended: in EIM32084 a full time posting expected to last 18 months is extended to 28 months after 10 months. Travel is relieved for the first 10 months only.
Shortened: in EIM32085 a posting expected to last 28 months is cut to 18 months after 10 months. Nothing is relieved for the first 10 months, but the last 8 months qualify.
Ended early: in EIM32083 a 28 month posting ends unexpectedly after 18 months. No relief is due at any point, because the expectation throughout was more than 24 months.

Breaks do not reset the clock. In EIM32107 an employer moves a construction worker to another site for a week each time he approaches two years on a six year project; the site is still permanent. EIM32100 lists evidence of the expectation: what the employer told the employee, the length of the project, any agreements, and whether the employee moved home.

Are there other rules that can make a site permanent?

Yes. Under the fixed term appointment rule, also in section 339(5), a place is permanent if the employee is expected to work there for all or almost all of the period they are likely to hold the employment. EIM32125 says HMRC should not normally challenge relief where work at the site is likely to be less than 80% of the likely duration of the employment. This catches people hired for a single project. Section 339(7) also treats a move to a new location as no move at all if it does not substantially change the journey or its cost (EIM32280), and section 339(8) can treat a whole geographical area as a permanent workplace.

Does every journey to a temporary workplace qualify?

No. Section 338(2) also denies relief for travel that is for practical purposes substantially ordinary commuting. EIM32300 describes this as a common sense rule for a temporary site that is broadly on the same route as the normal commute. HMRC tells officers not to argue the point where the extra distance is 10 miles or more each way, and a journey in a completely different direction is not substantially ordinary commuting even if the distance is the same. For employees using their own car, the payment side is covered by approved mileage allowance payments, and meals on qualifying trips can be paid using benchmark scale rates.

How are agency, umbrella and personal service company workers treated?

Section 339A, in force from 6 April 2016, treats each engagement as a separate employment where a worker personally provides services to a client through an employment intermediary. Every client site then becomes a permanent workplace for that engagement, so home to site travel and the related subsistence are not relieved (EIM32135). The rule is disapplied if the worker is shown not to be subject to, or to the right of, supervision, direction or control, except, broadly, where the IR35 or off payroll working rules apply to the engagement and the intermediary is not a managed service company. See umbrella companies and IR35 and the off payroll rules.

How does this work on a real posting?

Illustration only. Sam is employed by a Bristol engineering firm and normally works at its Bristol office. In January 2026 he is sent to a client site in Swindon four days a week for a project expected to take 20 months. Swindon is a temporary workplace: he is there more than 40% of his time, but not for more than 24 months. His employer can reimburse the full cost of the Swindon journeys tax free. In September 2026 the client extends the project so the total expected period becomes 30 months. From September, Swindon is a permanent workplace and the journeys are ordinary commuting; any further reimbursement is taxable earnings. Travel already paid between January and August stays tax free.

What mistakes come up most often?

Counting from the date the site passes 24 months rather than from the date the expectation changed.
Using a full time week to measure the 40% for part time staff.
Rotating staff briefly away to break continuity.
Forgetting the fixed term rule for employees hired for one project.
Paying tax free travel to agency or umbrella workers covered by section 339A.
Keeping no record of what the employee was told about the expected length of the posting, which is the evidence EIM32100 directs officers to in an employer compliance check.

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Reviewed by Christine Anderson, Broker, Solar Protect. Last reviewed 8 October 2026. Part of Accountapedia, the Solar Protect guide to UK tax and accounting. This page is general information, not personalised advice.