By Anthony Keane
AS tax time approaches, Australians are thinking about collecting receipts and other records to help them get a handy refund soon.
Receipts are the easiest way to satisfy the Australian Taxation Office that your deduction is real, but there are some deductions where receipts are unnecessary or impossible to get.
The ATO understands this but is warning that you need to prove how you calculated all your deductions, usually with some form of written evidence or secondary record such as bank statements.
Home office usage, work-related car expenses and uniform costs are among the deductions that don’t always require receipts.
People can claim work-related deductions totalling up to $300 without receipts, but assistant commissioner Kath Anderson said some taxpayers incorrectly believed they could make this standard $300 claim even if they didn’t spend it.
“You must have actually spent the money, and be able to show us how you worked out your deduction if asked,” she said.
“We are watching out for those standard deductions because it’s coming through as a theme in a lot of our audits. When we ask them about it they don’t have the ability to back it up.”
“It’s about having a record of your calculations.” This did not mean that your work-related uniform deductions required a list of every single wash, but you would need to show a reasonable calculation to justify your claim, Ms Anderson said.
The ATO considers a reasonable deduction for work-related laundry claims is $1 per load if it’s only work-related clothing, and 50c if it’s a mixture.
For home office expenses, the ATO allows a fixed rate of 45c per hour if you are working from home, or you can keep a diary of the actual costs.
Etax.com.au senior tax manager Liz Russell said these common items might be claimed without a receipt:
- Membership or union fees that could be itemised on your PAYG summary;
- Fuel and petrol usage, as long as you could demonstrate the number of work-related kilometres you travelled;
- Computer items if you had a credit card statement showing the purchase, and perhaps a photo of the packaging;
- Stationery items if you had a credit card statement and a note next to the purchase record.
Ms Russell said bank statements and BPay statements would also usually be accepted by the ATO when making deductions.
“The expense must be allowable. This means you must actually be eligible to claim it based on your occupation and you haven’t already been reimbursed by your employer,” she said.
“If a purchase contains some items you’re allowed to claim and some that you can’t, having some sort of way to distinguish between the two is a must.”
Source: News.com.au
