No chargeable benefit arises from the provision of a works bus with a seating capacity of 9 or more for the transport of employees or their children to and from work (section242 ITEPA 2003). This includes journeys that are completed only partly on a works bus. For example, an employee may drive a car to a pick-up point and complete the journey by works bus, or between workplaces.
Any journeys that fall within the definition of ‘qualifying journeys’ are journeys made on a working day between the workplace and shops or other amenities where the distance is no more than 10 miles one-way (20 miles return journey). This is intended to provide access to town centre amenities for employees, typically but not exclusively during a lunch break, without the need for them to use private cars. The journey must take place on a normal working day, so the exemption does not apply to an employee who uses the service on a day when they are not at work.