Tax on allowances?

A question about : Tax on allowances?

Does anybody know if we get taxed on allowances? If I put my BASIC annual wage into the listen to taxman calculator it pretty much matches up with what my PAYE amount is each month and it doesn't appear to include my HDT. However colleagues are convinced we ARE taxed on all allowances including LSA etc.

Best answers:

• JSP 752 states whether allowances are taxable or not. HDT is not taxable but LSA does attract tax liability.
• The basic rule is that if the allowance is reimbursing expenditure paid out for the purpose of your job, it's not taxable - like reimbursing a hotel bill for an overnight stay. If it's some sort of compensation for work conditions (such as separation), it is taxable.
  HDT is an anomaly because the rest of the population pay to get themselves to work, whilst the Armed Forces have a tax-free allowance that contributes a chunk to their normal commute (after the deduction of the 'persona contribution' of a few miles, which varies depending on whether you're in SFA or your own place).