Work-Related Expenses Deductions – Are you missing out?

If your total claim for work-related expenses is more than $300, you must have written evidence to substantiate your claims. Many taxpayers are missing out on legitimate deductions by failing to keep appropriate records. In this digital age it’s not necessary to keep physical receipts & records. The ATO accepts digital copies and with their myDeductions tool – part of the ATO app (available here) it is very easy to keep records on the go, simply by taking a photo of your receipt with your phone and uploading to the app.

Specific Substantiation Requirements:

Motor Vehicle Expenses – If using the logbook method, a logbook must be kept for a representative 12-week period. You then can claim the work-related percentage of all your motor vehicle expenses, so keep all receipts. However, fuel & oil expenses can be estimated based on the odometer records. If using the cents per kilometre method you don’t need written evidence, but you need to be able to show how you calculated your work-related kilometres (for example, by producing diary records of work-related trips). For more information see the ATO website – Vehicle & Travel Expenses

Travel Expenses – Along with receipts, if you are travelling for work and are away from home for more than 6 nights you will need to keep a travel diary. This must include details of where you were, what you were doing and the start and end times for activities. However, a diary is not required if you receive a travel allowance for your travel, you are travelling in Australia, and the amount you are claiming is up to the reasonable travel allowance expense amount – see the Vehicle and Travel Expenses link above for more details.

Laundry and Dry-Cleaning Expenses – if your claim for laundering of uniform, protective clothing or occupation-specific clothing is more than $150 and your total claim for work-related expenses is greater than $300, then you must have written evidence, such as diary entries and receipts to support your claim. If you don’t need to provide written evidence you can use the following as a reasonable basis to work out your claim – $1 per load, if made up of just work-related clothing or 50 cents per load if other clothing is included.

Telephone & Internet Expenses – If claiming more than $50, you must keep records for a representative 4-week period. These may include diary entries, electronic record and tax invoices.

For further information, advice related to your individual circumstances or help with any other tax question, please don’t hesitate to contact the team at STA.