Claiming Tax Deduction on Second Hand Goods?

witsa on 15/02/2025 - 14:25

I'm setting up a home office and plan to buy some of the furniture (eg, work desk) on Facebook Marketplace.

Assuming the item itself is partially or fully deductible, can I claim second hand goods bought from a private seller?

The ATO (as usual) is quite vague about this and assumes you'll buy everything new from a business.

From the website

https://www.ato.gov.au/individuals-and-families/income-deduc…

For most expenses you need a receipt or similar document from the supplier that shows all of the following:

the name or business name of the supplier
the amount of the expense or cost of the asset
the nature of the goods or services that you purchase
the date you purchase the goods or services
the date the document was produced.

I'm not sure what they mean by "similar document" - do I just need to make sure the seller signs a piece of paper with all the information on it? Could I just take a screenshot of the conversation as proof?

Financial Tax Deduction

Comments

  • jv on 15/02/2025 - 14:44
    +2

    and assumes you'll buy everything new from a business.

    no it doesn't…

    talk with your accountant…

    • RogerLoger on 15/02/2025 - 14:52
      +1

      The advice on the tax site is "the name or business name of the supplier'. The name of the supplier can be anybody.

  • RogerLoger on 15/02/2025 - 14:48

    Australia has a ridiculously complex tax system. Complex systems require complex advice.

    This may help: https://www.perplexity.ai/search/is-a-secondand-item-tax-ded…
    The number in grey circles link to the information source. One of those is and ATO community question. if you have tax question, you are probably better served by the ATO community than non-experts like me.

  • scrimshaw on 15/02/2025 - 14:50

    May already be answered on ATO's community website.

    https://community.ato.gov.au/s/question/a0J9s000000LQGl/p001…

    You don't necessarily need the receipt but you do need to have a record of the expense. Without written evidence of your deduction, it could be denied if you were required to substantiate the claim.

    The same rules that determine tax deductiblity of new items also apply to purchases of second hand items. That's the most basic thing to keep in mind.

    https://community.ato.gov.au/s/question/a0JRF000001Egur/p002…

  • mskeggs on 15/02/2025 - 14:51

    You need evidence of the purchase in case you get audited.
    A handwritten receipt is probably fine, assuming it isn't a $30k ute or something.
    The rules around deductibility, depreciation etc are the same regardless of new/secondhand unless you are seeking a special deduction (e.g. you can't claim rebates on secondhand solar panels)

    • ihbh on 15/02/2025 - 17:13
      +1

      And always take a photo of receipts and email yourself and file under folder such as receipts or warranty.

  • bemybubble on 15/02/2025 - 14:56

    Ideally. Have them hand write a receipt. Worse case scenario screenshot the ad and show the withdrawal of cash

  • foxmulder on 15/02/2025 - 17:37
    +2

    I'll take screenshots of the ad, conversation and the date in one take. Save the pic as receipt.

  • doctordv8 on 20/02/2025 - 11:31

    I called on the Telephone a year ago on some questions.

    They gave exacting Rule advise, and i used many 2nd hand items in my claims in the Trade.

    That is what they are there for, but will not give specific fiscal advise as usual.

    Call them, you will get the answers you seek.

Login or Join to leave a comment
Login Join