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It’s tax time again and sadly many of us are going to miss out on thousands of dollars of deductions. We’ve compiled a list of the most commonly missed deductions so you don’t have to pay the ATO any more than you have to.
You need to be able to justify your deductions. The easiest way to do this is with a receipt. An original receipt is great but a good quality electronic version is fine. A good habit to get into is to take a photo with your phone, that way you’ll never lose a receipt. For a lot expenses a diary is an acceptable form of evidence and in general you don’t have to keep it for the whole year, one – three months is usually sufficient.
Disclaimer: “These are just tips it’s not tax advice. While we believe it to be accurate but we encourage you to see a Tax Agent – their fees are tax deductible as well”
If your job requires you to work outdoors you can claim sun protection equipment including hats, sunscreen and sunglasses.
Did you do any courses for work? Did you do any ongoing professional development? Did you buy a magazine or pay to read an internet article related to work? All of them are tax deductable. You can even claim the travel to conferences.
How many times have you given someone a donation and then thrown away or lost the little tax invoice? Maybe you give monthly to a charity but forget to include it in your tax?
If you use your mobile phone and home internet for work purposes you can claim these expenses to the extent that you use it for work. You need to be able to show how you calculated the use. If you print out one month’s phone bill and calculate the percentage of work related calls you can use this proportion for the year. https://www.ato.gov.au/Individuals/Income-and-deductions/In-detail/Deductions-for-specific-industries-and-occupations/Mechanics---claiming-work-related-expenses/?page=9
If you drive your vehicle for any work related purpose you can claim it on tax. You can’t claim your commute but you can claim the trips you made for work after you arrive at work. You don’t need written evidence but you need to be able to show how you worked it out, eg a diary kept. http://calculators.ato.gov.au/scripts/axos/help/car1.htm
Do you need to wear a uniform or protective clothes? Laundering of uniforms is a tax deduction, you can claim $150 without providing written evidence. Any protective clothing you purchase, E.G Steel cap boots or chef pants is also deductible. https://www.ato.gov.au/Individuals/Tax-Return/2013/Tax-return/Deduction-questions-D1-D10/D3---Work-related-clothing,-laundry-and-dry-cleaning-expenses/
Any tool, post-it, pen and pencil, wrench and ruler; any tool or material you bought is tax deductable. Teachers are big offenders here, spending up big at Officeworks but forgetting to claim. Likewise tradies emergency trips to Bunnings can lead to missed tax claims.
If you have income protection insurance you are able to claim this as a tax deduction. You can’t claim for a policy that compensates you for physical injury, etc, only lost income. Also You can’t claim it if it comes out of your superannuation.
If you’re a Tradie and you can’t keep your tools safe on site you can claim your commute as a tax deduction, if your tools weight more than 20kg’s.
If you work from home you can claim a home office deduction of 34 cents per hour. You need at least 1 months diary to be able to justify this.
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