Train & rail fares
Rail fares for genuine business journeys are allowable, but ordinary commuting — including season tickets that cover your regular route to work — is never deductible.
Sole traderAllowable
Ltd companyAllowable
EmployeeConditional
Conditions
- Rail fares for qualifying business journeys are an allowable travel cost. HMRC's self-employed expenses guidance explicitly lists 'train, bus, tram, air and taxi fares' as allowable costs (GOV.UK, updated November 2024). The self-employed test is whether the journey is wholly and exclusively for the trade.
- Ordinary commuting — travel between home and a permanent workplace — is never allowable for any trader or employee, regardless of how far or how infrequent the journey is.
- For employees, the 24-month rule determines whether a destination counts as a temporary or permanent workplace. A workplace becomes permanent — and fares to it become 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 rule runs on expectation: if a posting is known from the outset to last more than 24 months, it never qualifies.
- For a limited company, rail fares for directors and employees on qualifying business journeys are an allowable cost for corporation tax purposes, and no benefit-in-kind arises where the journey is wholly for business.
- Season tickets present a particular challenge: where a ticket covers both commuting and business journeys on the same route, only the portion attributable to business travel is deductible. In practice this can be difficult to calculate, and separate point-to-point tickets bought for business trips are simpler to evidence.
Common mistakes
- Claiming a season ticket in full when it primarily covers commuting.
- Treating travel to a client or supplier site as business travel when it has become so regular and predictable that it functions like commuting.
- Forgetting that the 24-month rule runs on expectation — if the posting is always intended to last more than 24 months, the fares are non-deductible from day one.
What to keep
- Tickets, e-ticket receipts or booking confirmations.
- A note of the business purpose of each journey.
- For employees, records that the destination was a temporary rather than permanent workplace.
Real-world example
A management consultant travels by rail from Bristol to a client's London office twice a week for a project engagement. In the first 24 months the fares are allowable business travel. When it becomes clear the engagement will continue well beyond 24 months, she logs the date the expectation changed and stops claiming from that point.
Frequently asked
Can I claim a monthly rail season ticket as a business expense?
Only the portion used for genuine business journeys is allowable. If the ticket primarily covers your daily commute, the most you can claim is any identifiable excess attributable to additional business trips — and even that requires careful records. Separate point-to-point tickets bought specifically for business travel are much easier to evidence.
Does the 24-month rule apply to the self-employed?
No — the 24-month rule is a statutory employee rule under ITEPA 2003. For the self-employed, the test is the 'wholly and exclusively' principle: regular, habitual journeys to the same place can be treated as the equivalent of commuting and disallowed even without the formal 24-month threshold. Verify the current position with HMRC guidance if in doubt.
Not sure how this applies to you?
The rules shift with your circumstances. A qualified accountant can confirm what you can claim and handle it for you.
Find an accountantRelated allowances
Source: HMRC guidance · Last checked 2026-06-18
This page is general information based on HMRC published guidance, not tax advice. Status shown is a plain-English summary — your own position can differ. Always check the HMRC source above and speak to a qualified accountant before making a claim.