What expenses can I claim as an employee?

By Steph Hinds on Monday June 8th, 2015

Personal

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Make sure you are not missing out on any Tax Deductions. Check out our tips on what you can and can't claim below.

Tax in Australia is quite complex! So there is never one size fits all. Plus we have paperwork requirements to be able to claim any deductions. To help we've summarised below some of the more frequent questions we get on what you can claim.

As a general rule if you need to buy something to perform your job then it will be a tax deduction. Where it gets tricky is if you use that *thing* for both work and personal.

Let's take your mobile phone for example. Being the awesome person you are customers have your mobile number and call you on it all the time. You call them back and are generally *glued* to the phone drumming up business any opportunity you have. But on the weekend you coach your kids' awesome soccer team and every parent rings you on that same phone + you are good and call your mum :). So the phone is used for both work and personal. This doesn't mean we can't claim the cost of your phone + your monthly phone bill. It just means we need to apportion what we claim.

To be able to claim your phone or home office expenses etc, you need to keep a 4 week diary detailing how much time you spend in your home office for work and how much just surfing the web for fun. That's how we work out the work vs. private portion.

Cars are the other tricky one. We have a whole other post for claiming car costs so head on over to "I drive a lot for work, what can I claim"

OK so what are the type of things I can claim

Sunscreen and sunglasses if you work outside & your employer doesn't already provide this for you.
Hard Hats + safety glasses (and any other protective wear) that you have had to purchase yourself & haven't been reimbursed by your employer for
Education courses for work (remember these need to have a direct impact on your work)
Tools and equipment
Telephone costs - remember these will need to be apportioned between private + work
Internet costs - private vs. work will need to be calculated
Computers + iDevices you purchase for work - again private vs. work needs to be calculated
Printer/scanner
Stationery you use for work
Software you purchase for work
Other tech gadgets you need to use for work
Home office costs if you work at home - you need to keep a 4 week diary detailing the hours spent working at home.
Home office costs - desk, chair, lamp, filing cabinet, bookshelves etc if these are required for your job
Union or trade fees
Premiums on income protection insurance
Magazines that have a direct relation to your job. I.e. a truck driver subscribing to Australian Truckie Magazine
Buying, ironing & washing clothes that you must wear for work - i.e. protective clothes or a uniform
Travel Costs such as Airplane, Train, Accommodation for a conference or work trip
Parking if you need to visit customers etc
First aid course if you are the first aid person at your work
Growthwise fees
Being an awesome person and donating to charity. Note if you buy a pen, raffle tickets or something from the charity it's not a deduction. Only a pure donation is.

The other tricky part is any tools, equipment, tech stuff that costs more than $300. Whilst you can still claim them as a tax deduction you don't get to claim 100% in the year you purchase it. We have to claim the expense over the life of the asset.

Got It. What can I definitely NOT claim?

It's simple. Stuff you don't NEED for work! Things like:

Trauma or life insurance
Entertainment expenses
Fines and penalties
Child care
Social club fees
Expenses your employer has already reimbursed you for
Drivers licence
Commuting to and from work

The ATO have a really good video on getting your deductions right.

What about things that are specific to my occupation only?

The ATO actually have some great guides on specific occupations.

It's worth taking a minute to ensure you are not trying to claim things you can't or missing out on any deductions

Getting organised for tax time sucks! Can you make it easier?

We sure can! Very few people get really excited about combing through piles of receipts for tax time. And most people buy everything they need for work on a credit card or from their bank account.

All the Growthwise gang are just as annoyed at having to organise everything for our own returns for tax time so we did something about it.

Check out your wealth portal. It brings in all your bank and credit card transactions during the year. Everything is auto categorised and all you need to do is tag the expenses that are tax related. Tag an expense that is recurring once and it will automatically remember to include in your tax deductions report!

Check out how your personal wealth portal can help you get organised for tax time.