Fascinating as all this is, the actual wording is "substantially different". Getting to a different main line terminus , for example, would probably do it (as in Paddington vs Victoria, not Clapham Junction vs Waterloo) . Working in Cardiff and Reading from my base in Bristol would count - roughly the same journey time but significantly different destinations. If the difference isn't clear - Farringdon one week, Barbican the next - you're probably not going to win that one.
The other point, of course, is that there are no rules about what expenses you can claim, only about what expenses you have to treat as earned income. If your renewal takes you over the two year rule, work out the extra cost to you (hint: it's about 20% on top of of your travel costs) and negotiate it into your rate at renewal. You're supposed to be a business, so act like one: your client has just increased your cost of sales, so pass it on, just like Tesco.
All assuming of course, that you want to take the risk of being proved wrong in order to save a few hundreds out of a multi-thousand pound contract. Life's too short.
The other point, of course, is that there are no rules about what expenses you can claim, only about what expenses you have to treat as earned income. If your renewal takes you over the two year rule, work out the extra cost to you (hint: it's about 20% on top of of your travel costs) and negotiate it into your rate at renewal. You're supposed to be a business, so act like one: your client has just increased your cost of sales, so pass it on, just like Tesco.
All assuming of course, that you want to take the risk of being proved wrong in order to save a few hundreds out of a multi-thousand pound contract. Life's too short.
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