Ready to dive headfirst into the wacky whirlpool of Australian taxes? Strap yourself in, because, crikey, it's a ride wilder than a kangaroo with a caffeine addiction. Remember, our tax landscape is about as uniform as our platypus – a smorgasbord of oddities with each of us having different needs and paperwork to wrangle. But no worries, let's try to make this thrilling tax escapade a tad less terrifying.
Firstly, let's clear the bush: If you've got to buy something for your job, it's usually a tax deduction. The hiccup happens when your job kit doubles as your personal plaything.
Let's take a squizz at your mobile, or as we say here, your electronic leash. Maybe you're a whizz at your job, always at beck and call, making your clients happier than a croc in a swamp. But then, come the weekend, you're coaching your kid's soccer team or ringing up your Mum (aww, good on ya!). So, that’s your phone moonlighting as both your business buddy and family lifeline. Now, we can't write off your entire phone bill, but we can split the difference like a good pavlova – half work, half play.
The same rule applies to your home office expenses if you are working from home. Think of it as a seesaw balancing your professional prowess and your penchant for cat memes. There have been a tonne of changes to how you can claim home office expenses this year so we've put together the how to guide in our other post: "Working from Home, what can I claim?"
Cars, those metal beasts, are a different kettle of fish entirely. For all the ins and outs on claiming car costs, race over to our post: "I drive a lot for work, what can I claim". Vroom vroom!
OK so what are the type of things I can claim?
Now let's yabber about the kind of stuff you can claim.
Picture this: You're a landscaper, and your employer doesn't offer you sunscreen or sunglasses, even though the sun blazes down like a bloomin' furnace. Bazinga! You can claim those.
On top of sun protection items (hat's, sunnies etc) you can also claim the cost of buying, ironing & washing clothes that you must wear for work. This has to be a uniform (with a logo, not just black pants and a white shirt), or protective or occupation specific clothing, you can't claim the random stuff you buy for the weekend. You can also claim hard hats and safety glasses as long as your employer hasn't reimbursed you.
You can also claim the cost of travel for work, airfares, accomodation. BUT you can only claim these costs if your employer hasn't reimbursed you. See the pattern here. You can only claim things your employer hasn't reimbursed you for.
Also on the list are Magazines that have a direct correlation to your job, ie a truck driver subscribing to Australian Truckie Magazine, parking if you visit clients, courses like 1st aid if you are the legend 1st aid officer at your job and union or professional association fees.
Other things you can claim range from your work-related education courses (as long as they are related to your current employment), to tools and equipment. Beware, my friends, when you're buying a big-ticket item like tech gear or tools costing more than 300 bucks. You can claim them, but like a good Christmas ham, it's spread out over the lifetime of the item.
And the cherry on top: Donations to charity (just make sure it's a straight donation, not buying a charity-branded pen or raffle ticket).
As always though you need to have evidence that you have both incurred AND paid for these expenses.
Got It. What can I definitely NOT claim?
So what’s off the table? It's pretty clear: Stuff you don't NEED for work. Entertainment expenses, fines and penalties, social club fees, child care costs, and your daily commute are out.
You also can't claim things your employer has already reimbursed you for.
The ATO have a really good video on getting your deductions right.
What about things that are specific to my occupation only?
Your occupation has specific perks? Brilliant! ATO's got a comprehensive guide for specific jobs. It's definitely worth a squizz to avoid claiming the no-gos and missing out on the goodies.
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.
Alternatively the ATO (yes we are saying the ATO) have a simple myDeductions app where you can store all your receipts.
I'm ready for tax time or I have more questions
And finally, if tax time gives you the heebie-jeebies, don't sweat it. The Growthwise gang is here to help.
If you're rearing to tackle tax time or if you've got more questions, crack on and check out our FAQ's. This will help you send us your information, book an appointment, and understand how things roll at Growthwise.
That's all, folks! We're done and dusted. We hope this tax romp has been as fun for you as a kangaroo on a trampoline. Now, go forth and conquer those taxes.