Travel expenses

Produced by Tolley in association with Philip Rutherford
Employment Tax
Guidance

Travel expenses

Produced by Tolley in association with Philip Rutherford
Employment Tax
Guidance
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Introduction

Travel expenses have specific tests which must be satisfied in order for an employee to gain a deduction. These rules are different from the general rule for deductibility of expenses in that they do not need to be incurred ‘wholly and exclusively’. This is because with any business travel, there are likely to be elements of mixed or private purpose, eg meals taken on a trip or overnight accommodation because the employee needs sleep. Meals and overnight accommodation come under the heading ‘subsistence’ and expenses on subsistence follow the rules on business travel. See the Subsistence expenses guidance note for more information.

As a result of the exemption for expenses that are either business expenses or the reimbursement of HMRC approved amounts, it is incumbent on an employer to keep the necessary processes, systems and controls to ensure that business and non-business expenses can be correctly identified and recorded.

The NIC legislation on deductible travel expenses is generally aligned with the tax treatment. Therefore, unless indicated otherwise, NIC treatment of expenses will match the tax treatment.

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Philip Rutherford
Philip Rutherford

Senior Tax Director at Molson Coors Brewing Company


Phil is the Senior Tax Director for Molson Coors' European operations. He has responsibility for both direct and indirect taxes across both EU and non-EU states. Prior to this, Phil was responsible for Molson Coors UK tax affairs covering all major taxes and duties.   Phil trained at KPMG LLP, where he worked for 8 years, specialising in tax investigations across both direct and indirect tax.

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  • 17 Jun 2025 06:21

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