Disallowance of deductions for certain transportation and commuting benefit expenditures.

# (a) General rule.

Except as provided in this section, no deduction is allowed for any expense incurred for providing any transportation, or any payment or reimbursement, to an employee of the taxpayer in connection with travel between the employee's residence and place of employment. The disallowance is not subject to the exceptions provided in section 274(e). The disallowance applies regardless of whether the travel between the employee's residence and place of employment includes more than one mode of transportation, and regardless of whether the taxpayer provides, or pays or reimburses the employee for, all modes of transportation used during the trip. For example, the disallowance applies if an employee drives a personal vehicle to a location where a different mode of transportation is used to complete the trip to the place of employment, even though the taxpayer may not incur any expense for the portion of travel in the employee's personal vehicle. The rules in section 274(l) and this section do not apply to business expenses under section 162(a)(2) paid or incurred while traveling away from home. The rules in section 274(l) and this section also do not apply to any expenditure for any qualified transportation fringe (as defined in section 132(f)) provided to an employee of the taxpayer. All qualified transportation fringe expenses are required to be analyzed under section 274(a)(4) and § 1.274-13.

# (b) Exception.

The disallowance for the deduction for expenses incurred for providing any transportation or commuting in paragraph (a) of this section does not apply if the transportation or commuting expense is necessary for ensuring the safety of the employee. The transportation or commuting expense is necessary for ensuring the safety of the employee if unsafe conditions, as described in § 1.61-21(k)(5), exist for the employee.

# (c) Definitions.

The following definitions apply for purposes of this section:

(1) Employee. The term employee means an employee of the taxpayer as defined in section 3121(d)(1) and (2) (that is, officers of a corporate taxpayer and employees of the taxpayer under the common law rules).

(2) Residence. The term residence means a residence as defined in § 1.121-1(b)(1). An employee's residence is not limited to the employee's principal residence.

(3) Place of employment. The term place of employment means the employee's regular or principal (if more than one regular) place of business. An employee's place of employment does not include temporary or occasional places of employment. An employee must have at least one regular or principal place of business.

# (d) Applicability date.

This section applies to taxable years beginning on or after December 16, 2020.

[T.D. 9939, 85 FR 81408, Dec. 16, 2020]