Special tax rules on foreign travel (490: Chapter 7)
Find out about the special tax rules that give extra tax relief for travel by some employees who work abroad, or come from abroad to work in the UK.
Special tax rules on foreign travel
7.1
There are special tax rules which give extra tax relief for travel by some employees who work abroad, or come from abroad to work in the UK.
The full cost of foreign travel may qualify (in the same way as the full cost of domestic travel) for tax relief under the general travel expenses rules.
Employees may instead be entitled to tax relief under the special rules which apply only to foreign travel but generally it will be sensible to consider first whether tax relief is available under the general travel expenses rules.
There are special rules for working out the tax relief on motoring expenses paid to employees who use their own vehicles for business travel (read paragraph 9.12).
7.2
This chapter explains the terms resident and qualifying new resident.
Residence in the UK is decided by using the Statutory Residence Test (SRT) to consider:
- the number of days an individual is physically present in the UK
- their spouse, civil partner or child (under the age of 18)
If an employee is considered resident in the UK, they will normally pay tax on all their worldwide income. A non-UK resident will usually only pay tax on their UK income.
You’re a qualifying resident if you’re:
- a UK (England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland) tax resident under the Statutory Residence Test (SRT)
- still within your first 4 years as a UK tax resident following at least a 10-year period as a non-UK tax resident
A qualifying new resident for a tax year will remain so in any tax year during the following 3-year period in which they’re UK resident, so that they can be a qualifying new resident in up to 4 tax years.
An individual is not a qualifying new resident if they are a Member of the House of Lords or House of Commons in any part of a tax year.
Find out more about qualifying resident in manual RFIG44000.
7.3
There are different special rules for employees:
- resident in the UK and who carry out all the duties of their employment abroad (read paragraphs 7.4 and 7.5)
- resident in the UK and who carry out part of the duties of their employment abroad (see paragraphs (read paragraphs 7.6 and 7.7)
- non-UK resident or a qualifying new resident who work in the UK (read paragraphs 7.8 and 7.9)
People carrying out all their duties abroad
7.4
An employee who is resident in the UK and who carries out all their duties abroad is entitled to tax relief:
- when they start the job abroad — for the full cost of travelling from anywhere in the UK to the place abroad where they’ll be working
- when they finish the job abroad — for the full cost of travelling back to anywhere in the UK
- while they’re working abroad — for the cost of accommodation and subsistence but only to the extent that this cost is included in the employee’s earnings, for example, if the employer pays the cost of the expense or reimburses the employee.
If the employee has 2 or more jobs, for the full cost of travelling from where they do one job to where they do the other. But an employee is entitled to tax relief for these expenses only if:
- they’re living in the UK
- their employer is resident in the UK
Example — Karen
Karen is a resident in the UK and not a qualifying new resident. She travels from her home in Bristol to start a permanent job in Munich.
Karen is not entitled to tax relief for the full cost of her journey to Munich under the general expenses rules because this journey is ordinary commuting. But she is entitled to tax relief for the cost of the journey under the special rules on foreign travel.
This gives rise to a taxable benefit and Karen is not entitled to tax relief under the general expenses rules to set against that benefit. But she is entitled to tax relief set against the benefit under the special rules on foreign travel.
7.5
An employee who is resident in the UK and carries out all their duties abroad is also entitled to tax relief if the duties:
- can only be carried out abroad — for the full cost of journeys to and from anywhere in the UK made during the time they work abroad
- keep the employee abroad for 60 days or more — for the full cost of a spouse or civil partner and children travelling from anywhere in the UK to visit or accompany the employee to the place where they are working and their return journey back to the UK
The employee can only get tax relief for up to 2 outward journeys and 2 return journeys in each tax year for their spouse, civil partner or child (under the age of 18 at the start of travel) where the return journey is to a place in the UK.
An employee can get tax relief for these expenses only if the cost is included in the employee’s earnings. For example, if the employer pays the cost of the expense or reimburses the employee.
Example
Colin is a resident in the UK. He gets a job in Japan. While he is working in Japan he makes 5 visits to the UK. He buys a return ticket each time. His employer reimburses the cost of the first 4 visits but does not reimburse the cost of the fifth visit.
Colin is entitled to tax relief under the special rules for the full cost of the return journeys for the first 4 visits.
He is not entitled to tax relief for the fifth visit because his employer did not reimburse the cost of his ticket.
During Colin’s employment in Japan, he is absent from the UK for a continuous period of 80 days during the tax year. In this period his wife visits him 3 times in the same tax year.
In each instance his employer reimburses Colin the cost of the flights. A deduction is allowed from earnings for 2 outward and 2 return journeys, but no deduction is allowed for travel in either direction for the third visit.
People carrying out part of their duties abroad
7.6
An employee who is resident in the UK and carries out part of their duties abroad is entitled to tax relief if the duties:
- can only be carried out abroad — for the full cost of all journeys from anywhere in the UK to the place where the employee is working and return journeys to the UK
- keep the employee abroad for 60 days or more — for the full cost of a spouse or civil partner and children travelling from anywhere in the UK to visit or accompany the employee to the place where they are working, and their return journey back to the UK
The employee can only get tax relief for up to 2 outward journeys and 2 return journeys in each tax year for each of their spouse, civil partner or child (under the age of 18 at the start of travel).
But an employee can get tax relief for these expenses only if these costs are included in the employee’s earnings. For example, if the employer pays the cost of the expense or reimburses the employee.
Example
Pam has to go to Paris to carry out some of the duties of her job. She goes for 3 weeks in January and for a further 15 weeks from the beginning of March. Pam’s daughter goes to Paris to visit her on 4 separate occasions: one in January, two in March and one in May.
Pam’s employer reimburses the cost of all these journeys. The reimbursed cost gives rise to a taxable benefit.
Pam is entitled to tax relief under the special rules for the full cost of her daughter’s 2 journeys in March and the one journey in May. She is entitled to tax relief for the full cost of all 3 journeys because 2 fall in one tax year and the third falls in the next tax year.
Pam is not entitled to tax relief for the cost of the journey in January because she was not away on business for 60 continuous days.
Example
Stephen is resident in the UK. He is employed by a construction company on many different sites in the course of a year both in the UK and abroad. He does not have a permanent workplace.
He goes to work on a site in Germany for 3 months. While he is in Germany he stays in lodgings.
Under the special rules Stephen would be entitled to tax relief for the full cost of his journey to Germany but not for the cost of his lodgings.
Under the general expenses rules Stephen would be entitled to tax relief for the full cost of his journey and his lodgings while he is away because his lodgings are treated as part of the cost of his travel, read paragraph 5.4 in Business journeys tax relief (490: Chapter 5)
Stephen will, therefore, be entitled to more tax relief under the general expenses rules than under the special rules on foreign travel.
7.7
An employee who is resident in the UK and has 2 jobs where part of the duties of at least one of them is carried out abroad, is entitled to tax relief for the full cost of travelling between them as long as one end of the journey is outside the UK.
But the employee is entitled to tax relief for this expense only if:
- they’re living in the UK
- their employer is resident in the UK
People from abroad coming to work in the UK
7.8
An employee is entitled to tax relief under these special rules only if they meet certain conditions. To decide whether an employee is entitled to tax relief under the special rules it’s necessary to find out on what date they came to the UK to work, work out which tax year that date falls into, and ask was the employee:
- resident in the UK in either of the 2 tax years which ended before the tax year in which that date falls?
- in the UK, for any reason, at any time in the 2 years ending on the day immediately before that date?
If the answer to either of these questions is ‘no’, then the employee is entitled to tax relief under the special rules.
If the answer to both of these questions is ‘yes’, then the employee is not entitled to tax relief under the special rules.
However, they’re still entitled to tax relief for the full cost of business journeys under the general expenses rules.
Example
Patsy is a resident in Australia. She came to the UK on 4 February 2026 to work in Lincoln. She had been to the UK in 2025 for a holiday but has never been resident in the UK.
Patsy arrived to work in the UK in the tax year 2025 to 2026.
She had not been resident in the UK in either 2023 to 2024 or 2024 to 2025.
This means she is entitled to tax relief under the special rules.
7.9
An employee who:
- is non-resident or a qualifying new resident who works in the UK
- meets the necessary conditions (read paragraph 7.8)
- is entitled to tax relief under the special rules for 5 years from the date they came to the UK:
- for the full cost of journeys from a country where the employee normally lives, at the time the journey is made, to the place where they’re working in the UK and back home after carrying out those duties — the requirement that the journey must be to a place in the UK to perform duties of the employment can be taken to mean travel to the place where the employee lives in the UK whilst performing the duties of the employment — there is no limit to the number of journeys for which an employee can get tax relief
- if the journey of the employee is only partly for the performance of duties in the UK, the deduction is equal to the amount as is properly attributable to that purpose
- if the employee’s work in the UK keeps them in this country for 60 days or more — for the cost of a spouse or civil partner and children travelling from their home to visit or accompany the employee to the place where they’re working in the UK, and their return journey
The employee can only get tax relief for up to 2 outbound journeys and 2 return journeys in each tax year for each of their spouse, civil partner or child (under the age of 18 at the start of travel).
The employee is entitled to tax relief for these expenses only if the costs are included in the employee’s earnings, for example, if the employer pays the cost of the expense or reimburses the employee.
Example
Ben is a resident in Canada but works in the UK. This meets the conditions in paragraph 7.8.
He came to work in the UK in January 2016. In December 2028 he travelled back to Canada to visit his parents.
His employer paid for his travel costs from his home to the airport and his flight ticket. As his employer paid these costs this means there is a taxable benefit. Ben is entitled to tax relief under the special rules to set against that benefit.
In March 2031 Ben travelled back to Canada again. Once again his employer paid for his ticket. This means there is a taxable benefit.
But this time Ben is a UK resident and is not entitled to tax relief under the special rules on foreign travel because his trip to Canada took place more than 5 years after the date on which he arrived in the UK.
Example
Helen is resident in Australia and has come to the UK to work on 1 June 2026 for a period of 6 months. This meets the conditions in paragraph 7.8.
Helen’s husband travels to the UK to visit in July 2026 and September 2026. On both occasions he returns to Australia.
Helen’s employer pays back the cost of these journeys. Paying back this cost means there is a taxable benefit, which is included in Helen’s earnings.
A deduction is allowed as the:
- journey is made between the country where the employee normally lives at the time the journey is made and the UK
- employee has been in the UK for at least 60 continuous days
If a third journey is made in the same tax year, Helen would not be entitled to further deductions from her earnings. You can only apply for a maximum of 2 return journeys in one tax year.
Extra costs of foreign travel
7.10
Where an employee is entitled to tax relief under the special rules on foreign travel for the full cost of a journey, they’re also entitled to tax relief for the cost of any:
- inoculations needed for that journey
- visas needed for that journey
7.11
An employee who goes abroad to work may be eligible to tax relief for either:
- medical treatment provided abroad
- insurance against the cost of medical treatment provided abroad
The employee is entitled to tax relief for these expenses only if the costs are included in the employee’s earnings. For example, if the employer pays the cost of the expense or reimburses the employee.
Updates to this page
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Updated to remove domicile and introduce qualifying new resident following the introduction of the foreign income and gains regime from 6 April 2025.
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First published.