## Facts

- Mr. Ricketts was employed as Recorder of Portsmouth, a part-time judicial position requiring his attendance in Portsmouth for court sessions.
- He resided in London and regularly traveled to Portsmouth to perform his judicial duties.
- Mr. Ricketts claimed a deduction for his travel expenses between London and Portsmouth from his judicial income.
- The issue before the House of Lords was whether these travel expenses were deductible from his taxable income.

## Issues

1. Whether travel costs incurred commuting from London to Portsmouth to attend court sessions could be considered deductible business expenses.
2. Whether the distinction between travel necessary to perform job duties and travel resulting from personal choice of residence is determinative for tax deduction purposes.

## Decision

- The House of Lords unanimously rejected Mr. Ricketts' deduction claim for travel expenses.
- The court held that travel costs incurred merely to reach the place of employment are not deductible as they are not part of the performance of work duties.
- The ruling distinguished between costs incurred in the course of work and costs incurred to enable attendance at work.
- The court found that Mr. Ricketts’ choice to live in London, when his work required attendance in Portsmouth, rendered the travel a personal, not a business, expense.

## Legal Principles

- Only travel costs directly required to perform work duties are deductible for tax purposes; preparatory or commuting expenses arising from personal residential choices are not.
- The phrase “necessarily incurred” means expenses must be directly and unavoidably required for the performance of the duties themselves.
- The location of a worker’s residence does not convert personal commuting costs into deductible business expenses.
- The principle has continuing significance for determining the line between business and personal travel expenses for tax purposes.

## Conclusion

The decision in Ricketts v Colquhoun established that for tax deduction, travel expenses must be incurred in the actual performance of employment duties, not simply to enable the employee to reach the workplace, reinforcing the separation between deductible business costs and non-deductible personal commuting expenses.

Ricketts v Colquhoun [1926] AC 1