Travel and subsistence framework: discussion paper

In response to the Office of Tax Simplification’s (OTS) January 2014 report on the tax treatment of employee benefits and expenses, ‘Review of employee benefits and expenses: second report’, the government announced at Budget 2014 that it intended to review the rules underlying the taxation of travel and subsistence expenses. On 31 July 2014 the government launched the first stage of that review. It sits alongside the consultations on expenses and benefits and the broader call for evidence on remuneration launched on 18 June, both of which are intended to complement this work.

On 23 September 2015 the government published a discussion paper that sets out the case for change to the current rules for tax relief on travel and subsistence rules. This discussion paper has been developed following an initial round of discussions with stakeholders who got in touch with the review team shortly after the review was launched in July 2014. The paper outlines a potential framework to tackle some of the issues that were identified during these discussions. The government would now like to seek views on this framework and has set out a number of key questions to test with interested stakeholders.

We will accept written submissions during the course of the consultation period.

Responses to this discussion paper will be used to inform the development of the government’s proposals which will be published for wider consultation in due course.