The function does not work in ESP8266

I agree that it a valid reason not to use return in the way that I phrased my question

Perhaps I should have asked, why not use return when all of the required code in loop() has been executed ?

As you say, it is a matter of opinion, but if the logic is followed to its conclusion then the code should never return early from a function even when a value is being returned, but it is common to do so