The ATO is paying attention to people who are over-claiming work-related expenses.
Get your deductions right by satisfying the following rules:
- you must have spent the money and were not reimbursed
- it must be directly related to earning your income, and not of a private nature
- you must have a record to prove it
Things to note:
- you need to consider if your employer would confirm the expenses were required to earn your income and that you were not reimbursed
- you are not automatically entitled to claim standard deductions. Exceptions to keeping written evidence makes things simpler (for example using the cents per kilometre method for car expenses), but you still need to have spent the money and be able to show how you worked out your claims.
- receiving an allowance from your employer does not necessarily entitle you to a deduction.
- you can keep track of your deductions using the myDeductions tool in the ATO app then email us your data for inclusion in your tax return.
