Business travel
Last checked 17 June 2026 · HMRC source
Train fares, flights, taxis and hotel bills all sit under one umbrella, and the same test decides them all: travel for the work itself — to clients, suppliers or temporary work sites — is allowable, while ordinary commuting between home and a regular workplace never is. Trips that mix business with a holiday need the private element stripped out before anything is claimed.
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Conditions
- Genuine business journeys — to clients, suppliers, temporary work sites or business meetings — are allowable, including reasonable accommodation and meals when staying away overnight.
- Ordinary commuting between home and a permanent workplace is never allowable. For the self-employed the test is whether the journey is wholly and exclusively for the trade; regular, habitual travel to the same place can itself be treated like commuting and disallowed, even if you have a home office.
- For employees, directors and contractors, travel to a temporary workplace is allowable — but a workplace becomes permanent (so the travel becomes non-deductible commuting) once you have spent, or expect to spend, 40% or more of your working time there over a period lasting more than 24 months (the '24-month rule'). It runs on expectation, so a posting known from the outset to exceed 24 months never qualifies. (Source: GOV.UK booklet 490, chapter 3.)
- Where a trip mixes business with private time, such as a holiday, only the genuine business portion is allowable.
Common mistakes
- Claiming a commute as business travel.
- Including the private element of a trip that combined business with a holiday.
What to keep
- Tickets, booking confirmations and accommodation invoices.
- A note of the business purpose of each journey.
Real-world example
A sole trader travels by train to a two-day client workshop in another city and stays overnight. The fares and reasonable hotel cost are allowable as business travel.
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Related allowances
Source: HMRC guidance