According to the ATO Tax Determination (TD) 2016/15, the annual fee for airport lounges is fully tax deductable.
This seems to be noted around the internet on a number of sites:
Australian Business Traveller
Tax & Super Australia
I'm a contractor and I travel heavily for business purposes.
If I was to purchase, say a Qantas Club memebership myself, would I submit the receipt to my accountant at EOFY for a full tax deduction?
Does anyone do this on their tax returns?
"They said to ask the ozbargain fam first"
would I submit the receipt to my accountant at EOFY for a full tax deduction?
Thats how a tax deduction works…..
Remember you don't get the full price back, you get the tax back on the money you EARNED to pay for it. So you'll get at a guess 30-48% of the price back.
Definitely can claim, my partner does every year.
If you travel heavily for business wouldn't you have already earned Gold/Platinum membership with one of the major airlines?
So much this.
Gold with Virgin and Qantas is pretty easy to earn if you really do fly frequently.
Recent rule changes mean it can take up to 100 flights with Virgin at least. If your business makes you take the cheapest fare. Ours does that and even books a discount airline seat if cheaper :/
As to the tax deductibility you would have to justify it. Eg, you need a quiet place to work with Wi-Fi and power etc.
If you fly Melbourne to Sydney, sure it will take a long time.
The rule changes aren't really that recent either.
I got Platinum almost entirely from Melbourne to Sydney, 5 SC at a time.
@[Deactivated]: Wow! Platinum requires 1400, at 5 points/trip you would need 280 flights or 140 return trips in 365 days!
Probably best to confirm with your accountant but sounds reasonable as a business expense. At the end of the day if you can prove it related to your work productivity (I.e. have a space to charge laptop, use Wi-Fi etc) you will survive an audit
Why not ask your accountant?