Edited version of your written advice

Authorisation Number: 1051362209899

Date of advice: 19 April 2018

Ruling

Subject: Work related expenses

Question

Are the expenses you incur as a journalist an allowable deduction?

Answer

Yes

This ruling applies for the following periods:

Year ending 30 June 2017

Year ending 30 June 2018

The scheme commenced on:

1 July 2016

Relevant facts and circumstances

You are a journalist

You contribute to a number of publications on an assortment of subjects including the hospitality industry, arts and cultural venues and social events and issues

In the course of your employment as a journalist you incur a variety of expenses in order to obtain the knowledge required to write relevant articles

The expenses you incur include the purchase of meals and products as well as the cost of attending various venues.

You bear the full cost of the expenses and are not reimbursed by your employer nor provided with food or goods by the businesses or events you review

Relevant legislative provisions:

Income Tax Assessment Act 1997 Section 8-1

Reasons for decision

Income Tax Assessment Act 1997 Section 8-1 (ITAA 1997) allows you to deduct from your assessable income any loss or outgoing incurred in gaining or producing your assessable income or necessarily incurred in carrying on a business.

As a journalist your deductions are addressed under Section 8-1 of the ITAA 1997 and Taxation Ruling 98/14 (TR 98/14) Income tax: employee journalists - allowances, reimbursements and work-related deductions.

Specifically, the cost of attending social functions is addressed in TR 98/14 paragraph 163, stating that:

‘A deduction is generally not allowable for the cost of providing entertainment by way of food, drink or recreation (whether to the taxpayer or another person). However, if an employee journalist is required as part of their work to report on a particular social function, the costs associated with attending are deductible.’

Similarly, the cost of meals is not generally a deductable expense, however, this is clarified in TR 98/14 paragraph 99 which states:

'Food and drink are ordinarily private matters, and the essential character of expenditure on food and drink will ordinarily be private rather than having the character of a working or business expense. However, the occasion of the outgoing may operate to give to expenditure on food and drink the essential character of a working expense in cases such as those illustrated of work-related entertainment or expenditure incurred while away from home.'

In your case, you attend various functions and venues and purchase meals expressly to obtain the relevant knowledge and experience required in order to write articles for publication, thus fulfilling the stipulation that it should have the character of a working expense.

TR 98/14 also allows for a number of other deductions for journalists that are normally considered private or domestic in nature including internet access, pay tv access and certain types of equipment. It follows that, where you purchase a product explicitly for the purpose of reviewing it for the publication of an opinion piece, the cost of purchasing the product will be deductable under Section 8-1 ITAA 1997.

Where an expense is partly private or domestic and partly work related it must be apportioned so that only the amount relating to your income producing activities is claimed as a deduction.

Conclusion

Based on the information you have supplied, the expenses that are incurred directly in the performance of your employment as a journalist are an allowable deduction under Section 8-1 of the ITAA 1997.