Is this accommodation and travel work related expense?

Question

We live in Melbourne. Last August, my husband got a contract job in Canberra for six months, but his employer didn’t provide accommodation to him. He lived in a studio and paid rent $470/week. Is that work related expense? He came back home every week. Is the traveling expense between Canberra and Melbourne work related expense? In February, his employer renewed his contract for anther six months and allowed him to work at home. But he had to go to Canberra every week. So he had day trip in between Canberra and Melbourne every Thursday. Are airfare, parking expense in Melbourne, shuttle from Canberra airport to city work related expense?

Answer

Certainly no deduction is allowable while your husband rented the studio in Canberra as he would be considered to have set up a new home.
Now that he is working from home it is different . His place of work is your home so when, once a week, he travels to the office all the travel costs are deductible. The following are references to support this.
Garrett v. F.C. of T. 82 ATC 4060


“On the other hand, where the travelling expenditure is incurred on journeys between different places of business or employment, the expenditure can be regarded as being a deduction within the sub-section and this can be so even though one of the places of business may also be the home of the taxpayer, or the home can be so construed: Re The Income Tax Acts (1903) 29 VLR 298; (1970) 16 CTBR(NS) Case 30; Case B81, 70 ATC 375; (1952) 2 CTBR(NS) Case 59; Case B107 (1952) 2 TBRD 536; FCT v. Green (1950) 4 AITR 471; 81 CLR 313; FCT v. Collings (1976) 6 ATR 476; 76 ATC 4,254 (Rath J); Owen v. Pook (Insp of Taxes) [1969] 2 All ER 1; [1970] AC 244; Taylor v. Provan (Insp of Taxes) [1975] AC 194 at 215 and 225."

Parragraph 8 of IT 2199 also supports this.