In Jayamth Kunjur v HMRC [2021] TC08296, the First Tier Tribunal (FTT) found that a proportion of accommodation costs incurred by an employed dental surgeon were deductable from employment income. 

Section 336 ITEPA 2003 allows a deduction from earnings for an amount where:

The FTT partially allowed Mr Kunjur’s appeal, finding that:

In conclusion, the FTT determined that a proportion of the expenditure would qualify for deduction under section 336 by reference to the actual duties performed at the accommodation.

The FTT considered that Mr Kunjur was entitled to rely on advice from his advisers and was not obliged to check that advice. The penalties for inclusion of the deduction for accommodation costs were reduced to nil.

Comment

Deductions under section 336 ITEPA can be notoriously difficult to obtain.

The section 336 test looks at the requirements of the job, rather than the circumstances of the individual doing it. This would usually mean that an expense is only deductible if each and every holder of that employment would have to incur it.

In this case, the FTT appears to have focused on whether the accommodation itself was used in the performance of Mr Kunjur’s employment duties rather than whether the cost was incurred in the performance of the duties of employment. Typically, the expense must be incurred in actually carrying out the duties of the job.

We wait to see if HMRC appeal the decision.

Useful guides on this topic

Accommodation: With travel or temporary workplaces
What cash allowances can be provided for business travel? What qualifies as business travel? What tax relief is available for accommodation?

Broadband
Can home-workers benefit from employer-provided broadband? What tax relief is available? How is it calculated?

Wholly and exclusively…toolkit
What does 'wholly and exclusively' mean? How do you determine if a cost is wholly and exclusively incurred for the purpose of a trade? What cases are there? 

External link

Jayamth Kunjur v HMRC [2021] TC08296


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