Can I Claim Commuting Costs? (Probably Not)

Commuting Is Not a Business Expense

Travel between your home and your regular, permanent place of work is commuting. HMRC does not allow commuting costs as a business expense, regardless of:

• How far you travel
• How expensive the journey is
• Whether you have no choice about where you work
• Whether you use the travel time productively

This applies to train fares, bus tickets, petrol, parking at your workplace — all of it.

Why Home-Based Sole Traders Have an Advantage

If you work from home and your home is your principal place of business, there's good news: you don't have a separate "regular workplace" to commute to. Every business journey from your home is business travel, not commuting.

This means a home-based freelancer who drives to a client meeting can claim the mileage. An office-based worker driving to the same meeting cannot claim the home-to-office portion of the trip.

The Temporary Workplace Exception

Even if you have a regular workplace, travel to a temporary workplace is business travel, not commuting. A workplace is temporary if you go there for a limited period or a specific task.

HMRC's guidance says a workplace becomes "permanent" if you attend (or expect to attend) for a continuous period of more than 24 months. Below that threshold, it's temporary, and travel to it is business travel.

Multiple Regular Workplaces

If you genuinely work from two or more locations regularly, travel between them is business travel. The commute is only the journey from home to your first workplace of the day and from your last workplace home.

Practical Tips

• Work from home if possible. It makes nearly all your business travel deductible.
• Keep a clear record of your principal place of business.
• Log business journeys separately from commuting.

For a full guide to what you can claim, see our article on travel expenses.

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