Airport Lounge Membership Tax Deductable?

looks on 14/10/2018 - 01:49
Last edited 14/10/2018 - 09:16 by 1 other user

According to the ATO Tax Determination (TD) 2016/15(law.ato.gov.au), 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(ausbt.com.au)
Tax & Super Australia(taxandsupernewsroom.com.au)

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?

• 

  Donaldhump on 14/10/2018 - 09:15

  +6

  Why not ask your accountant?

  • 

    vishalpandi97 on 14/10/2018 - 13:23

    +5

    "They said to ask the ozbargain fam first"

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  JimmyF on 14/10/2018 - 10:25

  +1

  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.

• 

  Renrut on 14/10/2018 - 10:32

  +2

  Definitely can claim, my partner does every year.

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  donga100 on 14/10/2018 - 11:11

  +3

  If you travel heavily for business wouldn't you have already earned Gold/Platinum membership with one of the major airlines?

  • 

    [Deactivated] on 14/10/2018 - 11:15

    +2

    So much this.

    Gold with Virgin and Qantas is pretty easy to earn if you really do fly frequently.

    • 

      [Deactivated] on 14/10/2018 - 13:27

      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.

      • 

        [Deactivated] on 14/10/2018 - 15:06

        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.

        • 

          kingmw on 14/10/2018 - 16:40

          @[Deactivated]: Wow! Platinum requires 1400, at 5 points/trip you would need 280 flights or 140 return trips in 365 days!

          • 

            [Deactivated] on 14/10/2018 - 17:28

            @kingmw: 1,000 on Virgin, and 800 to maintain.

            I average about 90-120 flights a year right now

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  AusGP on 14/10/2018 - 15:53

  +1

  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