Accommodation allowances paid to members of a search and rescue helicopter team were earnings that were not exempt from a tax charge and were not incurred wholly, exclusively and necessarily in the performance of their employment duties.
The appellants were members of a search and rescue helicopter team operating on the Isle of Lewis. The appeal concerned the tax treatment of accommodation allowances paid to each of them by their former and present employers between 2008/09 and 2012/13.
The appellants were required to work long shifts, which could extend overnight. They did not generally sleep at the helicopter base, although it was possible to do so. Whilst the appellants stated that their terms of employment provided that they must be at 15 minutes readiness while on base and 45 minutes readiness when off the base, there was no such express term in the contract of employment.
The First-tier Tribunal
