The cost of traveling a worker to his or her workplace

The cost of a worker's travel between his home and the workplace, paid for by the company, is compensation in kind for the worker.

This is how the DGT understands it in its binding consultation V1073/2016 of March 16 as a result of the question asked about a worker's request for his company to provide him with transportation in order to travel from his home to his workplace outside of normal working hours and at the request of the company itself, for which reason the company provides him with a taxi to make the trips.

The free use by the employee of the taxi service provided by the company to travel between his home and his workplace constitutes performance of work in kind, considering as such, the use, consumption or obtaining, for personal purposes, of goods, rights or services free of charge or at a price below the normal market price, even when they do not entail a real expense for the person granting them, since such trips fall within the personal scope of the worker for the purposes of personal income tax.

If these travel expenses are paid in cash, the amount will be considered a monetary return.

Also considered to be work income (defined as any compensation or benefit, whatever its name or nature, monetary or in kind, that derives, directly or indirectly, from personal work or from the employment or statutory relationship and does not have the character of income from an economic activity) are those cases in which companies give their employees travel expenses allowances for travelling between their homes and their workplace, although in this case it is monetary income.