10/05/2024
Late Night Taxis Paid by Employers
If an employer pays for its employees commuting costs, this is normally treated as a form of taxable remuneration.
However, one exception to this rule is when an employee is required to work late and the company funds the cost of a taxi home. For this expense not to be taxable for the employee, all of the following conditions must be met on each occasion:
- The failure of car sharing arrangements conditions are met. This is when car sharing is unavailable due to unforeseen events (e.g., the car driver is called to another location) and when the employee concerned regularly travels to work in a shared car with another employee. If it became apparent that this normal arrangement could not be met when the employee leaves home for work, the unavailability is deemed to be foreseen and the condition is not met.
- The four late night working conditions are all met, which are; 1) The employee is required to work later than usual and at least till 9pm 2) This is not a regular occurrence 3) When the employee finishes public transport has ceased/or it would not be reasonable to expect them to use public transport 4) The transport is by taxi or similar road transport.
- The number of such journeys for an employee is no more than 60 in a given tax year. This does not mean the exemption covers the first 60 journeys where a taxi is provided but instead the first 60 journeys where all of the above conditions have been met.
Should you have any questions concerning the above, please call 023 8046 1237 or email Joe Wilson.