Tax basics for small business

When to start claiming deductions

Sometimes it is easy to identify when your business started, for example, the date you started production or the date your shop opened. However, this is not always clear and you may want to record milestones in a diary so you and your tax adviser can establish a clear or notional start date for your business. For example:

• 18 March - applied for an ABN
• 19 March - set up business bank account.

For more information about claiming deductions, refer to Income and deductions for small business (NAT 10710).

You must be able to support your claim for any business deductions. Records to verify claims for deductions include: business books evidence of transactions, such as invoices and receipts evidence of use, such as motor vehicle logbooks and airline tickets.

You must keep records of your business transactions for five years from when you last used them to prepare a return.

For more information, refer to Record keeping for small business (NAT 3029).

Sections within Claiming deductions

• Making a claim
• Things you cannot claim
• When to start claiming deductions
• Claiming motor vehicle expenses
• Claiming working from home expenses
• Claiming business travel expenses
• Claiming deductions for decline in value (depreciation)
• Small business and general tax break