Deductions and expenses: Travel Expenses (Itinerant Work)

Whether the cost of travelling between home and work by the taxpayer, an employee carrying out itinerant work, is deductible under subsection 51(1) of the Income Tax Assessment Act 1936 (now section 8-1 of the Income Tax Assessment Act 1997 )

The cost of travelling between home and work by the taxpayer is deductible under subsection 51(1) of the Income Tax Assessment Act 1936 (now section 8-1 of the Income Tax Assessment Act 1997 ).

The taxpayer is employed as a specialist by a government department, is attached to a district office, and is responsible for attending a large number of locations within the district.

The taxpayer does not attend the district office on a daily basis but typically travels directly from home to one of the locations within the district. The taxpayer usually attends several locations during the course of a day before returning home.

A departmental vehicle is usually available for travel between locations provided it is returned at the end of each day to be garaged. As a matter of convenience, the taxpayer's own vehicle is used in the performance of the taxpayer's duties for which a travel allowance on a cents per kilometre basis is paid. The taxpayer maintains a log book for this purpose.

Having regard to the indicators of itinerancy set out in Taxation Ruling TR 95/34, the taxpayer's work is considered to be of an itinerant nature because: (a) travel is a fundamental part of the taxpayer's work; (b) there is a 'web' of work places in the taxpayer's regular employment; and (c) the taxpayer continually travels from one work site to another.

The taxpayer is therefore entitled to a deduction under subsection 51(1) of the Income Tax Assessment Act 1936 (now section 8-1 of the Income Tax Assessment Act 1997 ) in respect of the travel between the taxpayer's home and the locations within the district.