So I had a go at filling out my tax this time around using the governments mytax portal, and there used to be a section where you could claim up to $300 worth of items like stationery, work phone calls, etc. without receipts.
Any idea which section of deductions these expenses belong in now?
To be clear it's not a free for all deduction without basis. You still need to have made the purchases for work purposes and need to explain how you calculated your claim.
If your total work deductions are over $300 (so $301) you need to substantiate ALL your expenses with receipts(the full 301).
Having understood that, you would likely claim it under "Other Work Related Deductions". But if part of your $300 claim relates to travel or clothes etc you put it in the right category.
You need to be able to substantiate transactions leading to expense claims. A receipt is a useful way of doing this, but other methods are valid, including diary entries for small transactions, log books, credit card statements or any other method you can justify. This could include, for example, a statutory declaration that you incurred the expense but have lost the receipt.
Be reasonable and you will be fine.
true, except there are very rules about things like diary entries (less than $10 up to max of $200) plus specific rules about using credit card statements to try to justify.
i'd be very weary to recommend the use of CC statements on place like OB and to anyone who does attempt to do so should ensure they understand the requirements. pointing to a $200 JBHIFI transaction on your CC isn't going to fly.
This is true, but I think you are being a bit pessimistic. If you are claiming a $200 (for example) printer for your home office, and you have the printer, and have a credit card statement entry for $200, but have lost the receipt, I think it is reasonable evidence to show the transaction was legitimate should you be audited.
If you were trying to pass off some Xbox games or a number of transactions without receipts, and didn't have any business related item or similar to show for it, I think you would be in a more difficult situation, should you be audited.
Your printer example is spot on. The thing is, usually, if the deduction claim is legitimate there's a way to substantiate it in a good enough way.
It also depends on context of the entirety of the persons claims. If they have 95% receipts except for the printer, likely to be accepted. But if turns out 80% claims have no receipt and instead relying on stat decs or credit card statements, it starts looking sus.
Also, the official example from the ATO re using credit cards also referred to making a note on the CC statement before lodging and having the packaging of the item to prove the cost. So it wasn't just the CC statement alone.
In summary OBs, if relying on a credit card statement for an expense make sure it's for a real work expense and not something dodgy.
Also don't forget you can also claim items worth $10 and under to a maximum of $200 without receipts (Section 900-125 ITAA97)
In addition to the $300?
You can claim items with a record of the payment. For inconsequential items, this might be a diary entry (e.g. copy of Fin Review purchased for cash to check share prices of investments).
If your total deductions are more than $300 all need to have records showing the transactions. You can't have $299 in undocumented transactions and another $200 in diary entries.
But you can have $150 for laundry (if applicable) and $200 for sundry items.
@bemybubble:
Diary notes are a suitable substantiation for some expenses. The issue is that you can't say "I have no substantiation for my $300 of sundry expense, and here is diary evidence for another $200."
If you are claiming a total over the $300 limit, you need to substantiate all transactions, if you are audited.
To be honest, I think for most employees you should look closely at your deductions if they are less than $300. The way the world is these days there would be few people who are employed that don't have significant expenses that are at least partially attributable to work.
For example, if you arrange shifts via phone or or get a payslip by email then it is quite reasonable, I think, to claim a percentage of these services for work. If you are on call, perhaps a quarter or half your mobile bill might be attributable to work, knowing you would have a much lower bill if you didn't have to use it for work. Or if you do work on your commute, a cellular modem might be partially or wholly attributable to work. Some of these deductions just weren't a thing a decade ago, but then a decade ago, my employer didn't expect me to be able to answer emails or accept meetings during my commute!
I actually had this issue on Mygov the other day.
I couldn't find this section either - until after I had completed my income section. Once I had filled in the info from my payment summaries I just progressed on and the "other work related deductions' section became available.
Pretty much all done now save for my Health Insurance and the estimate of wife's income.
Essentially I believe you only need a list of purchased items reasonably required for your work. If you have receipts for all the items you can claim the total amount of the list. If you don't have all the receipts you can only claim items for which you have receipts. If the receipts you have only add up to less than $300 then you can claim a maximum of $300.
Try downloading "mydeductions", may help.
Plus you will give the ATO access to your life, check this out,
Use your device network services
Access your browser
Use your location
Use your maps
Use your rear- or front-facing camera
Use the photos in your media library
Use your microphone (can't workout why they want the microphone!!!)
……. just what you always wanted….
I hate tin foil hat comments like this. There isn't some big conspiracy theory that the ATO are tracking your life. The whole point of the f…n app is to help you track your deductions through the year.
Device network services you need to access the internet if you aren't on wifi.
Location/maps is used to record car trips for business purposes (and is an option, you can enter it manually if you wish).
Use your camera and photos to get images of receipts.
Microphone is if you set up voice authentication for security.
haters gonna hate….. , I downloaded the App it's just what I always wanted and has saved me heaps of time. That's why I made the effort to share the link and the love………………………try it you'll feel good, you might even start smiling :)
My work phone is just over the $300 mark so apparently I can't claim the full deduction and have to claim the depreciation instead. Can someone explain how to calculate the one-year depreciation value of a $370 phone?
Any section as long as the total adds up to less then 300 but put it under D5 Other work related expenses