When the Australian Tax Office (ATO) looks at work related expenses, they generally check that the cost has actually been incurred, whether it was actually required and whether it relates to earning your income as an employee. Even if you receive an allowance from your employer, for example in the building and construction industry, this does not necessarily entitle you to claim a deduction for the full allowance but generally only for the expenses actually paid.
To claim deductions the expenditure must be related to your employment. While you may not need to show receipts for work related expenses up to $300, you should keep all of your receipts as you may need these to prove your expenditure and to maximise your allowable deductions. The ATO will accept credit card, Bpay or email receipts as long as they provide full detials of the supplier, type of goods, date of purchase and the amount. You should keep your receipts for five years from the date you lodged your tax return in the year the claims were made.
Deductions that can be Claimed
- Fees for the preparation and lodgement of your tax return, as well as travel, with a registered tax agent
- Replacement, repair and insurance for trade equipment used for earning your income
- Purchase of books or journals needed to undertake your work efficiently
- Sun protection including sunglasses, sunscreen and hats and for outdoor work, but only for the work use component
- If you have to use your own car and are on the road a lot for work, you can claim a tax deduction for your car. You should keep a log book for a minimum of 13 consecutive weeks, which will genereally be valid for 5 years. You should also keep all of your receipts for the car such as servicing and repairs.
- Travel expenses if related to your job function as well as for meals if you stayed overnight
- If you are paid a travel allowance, you can only claim a deduction if you incurred the expense and it is work related and you can show the relevant documentation
- If you have a home office where you undertake your employment, in full or part, you can claim deductions on a percentage of your home expenses such as rent, insurance, rates, interest, electricity, maintenance and repairs, cleaning and the telephone
- You can claim any additional expenses that you endured for attending a work-related conference while on your overseas holiday such as registration fees and fares to and from the conference
- If you are required to make work-related calls from home then you can claim a portion of the rental costs, as well as call costs for lan (main) line and mobile phones. You must keep a log book of calls.
- Purchase of equipment such as laptops and mobile phones for use in your job, and only the portion related to your work is deductible. If the items are $300 or less the full cost can be claimed in one year, otherwise the cost will be depreciated over the useful life of the items. For each item, you should keep a log book for at least 4 weeks of job related use to help work out the proportion you can claim.
- Compulsory uniforms provided they demonstrate that you are an employee of a particular organisation or a specific profession/occupation. If certain conditions are met, corporate clothing is also deductible. To be able to claim clothing, as also dry cleaning, repairs and laundry, uniform designs must be registered with AusIndustry.
