22 June 2022 
Julia Ascott, Employment Taxes Specialist
The First Tier Tribunal (FTT) have denied tax relief to workers in the construction industry who were employed by an umbrella company in an overarching contract. Exchequer Solutions had argued that each time a worker was sent to work on a project, it was part of an on-going single employment contract with the umbrella company. As such, travel to/from that place of work was travel to a temporary workplace and therefore tax relief was allowed.
The FTT agreed with HMRC’s argument, in that there was no overarching employment with the individual workers (relying mostly on their being no on-going obligation on either party); each time they were engaged, it was a separate, distinct employment. As a result, the travel to/from the place of work was an ordinary commute and taxable.
Another case involving mutuality of obligation that could be of interest to status decisions in the future.
