Warning: This information may not apply to the current year. Check the content carefully to ensure it is applicable to your circumstances.
30 June 2011
The most common deductions people make in their tax returns are work-related expenses, with over eight million people submitting claims last year.
What are work-related expenses?
Work-related expenses relate to expenses you incur in performing your job - such as to purchase tools, or expenses related to your home office and mobile phone. You can claim these expenses in your tax return to reduce the amount of income you need to pay tax on.
However, you cannot claim private expenses, for example travel to and from work, or an expense that has been reimbursed by your employer.
What I can claim?
To help you get it right, the ATO has a range of work-related expense guides available for different occupations. This year we have added guides for some new occupations:
- real estate employees
- earth moving plant operators, and
- flight attendants.
Work-related expenses are on the ATO radar this tax time so it is important to make sure you are claiming only what you are entitled to.
What kind of written records do I need to keep?
If your claim is less than $300 you do not need to keep your receipts but you still need to be able to tell the ATO how you worked out your claim. If your claim is more than $300 then you need to keep written records of all your expenses for five years.
The types of records the ATO will accept include:
- paper or electronic copies of documents like invoices, receipts or delivery notes
- statements from financial institutions, such as credit card statements
- BPAY® receipt numbers
- PAYG payment summaries, or
- warrant documents.
More information
More information on work-related expenses and occupation guides is available from the ATO website www.ato.gov.au/occupations
Last Modified: Thursday, 30 June 2011