As an employee, there are things you need to know to meet your tax obligations and claim your entitlements correctly.
Income
Did you know…
Even if you didn’t receive a payment summary, you need to include your total income from all of your jobs on your tax return. It doesn’t matter if you worked full-time, part-time or on a casual basis.
Income includes;
- salary and wages
- commissions
- bonuses
- tips
- gratuities
- jury attendance fees
- income from sickness and accident insurance policies
- income from Centrelink
- investment income from bank deposits and shares.
Expenses
Did you know…
You can claim many expenses that relate to your work.
To claim an expense, you must have spent the money and not been reimbursed by your employer.
You can’t claim the following expenses associated with your work;
- travel between your home and your workplace
- expenses for a uniform consisting of conventional clothing like a black skirt and white shirt or blouse
- self-education expenses where the course you are undertaking does not have sufficient connection to your current employment.
Record keeping
Did you know…
You don’t need receipts if your work-related expenses are $300 or less, but you must be able to show the deduction relates to your income and how you calculated the amount you claimed.
If you claim more than $300 for work-related expenses, you need to keep written records as evidence of the whole amount not just the amount over $300. The $300 does not include claims for car, meal allowance, award transport payments allowance and travel allowance expenses.
Taxwise accept a wide range of documents as written records of your claim, for example;
- paper or electronic copies of documents, such as invoices, receipts or delivery notes
- statements from financial institutions, such as credit card statements
- BPAY® receipt numbers
- PAYG payment summaries
- warranty documents.
You may need to keep your records for five years unless you have simple tax affairs, in which case you only need to keep them for two years.
Seek professional advice
Always seek advice from Taxwise, a registered tax professional
Friends, family and colleagues may not have the most up-to-date information; their advice may lead to you paying more tax than you need to, so for the biggest and fastest refunds – Guaranteed - contact Taxwise on 9248 8124
If you get it wrong…
If, after your completed tax return has been lodged by us, you realise you’ve made a mistake, you need to correct it as soon as possible by contacting us on 9248 8124.
About the Author
Warren Kruger is an Australian Tax Specialist and Advisor.
For a FREE Report "7 Essential Strategies to Reduce Your Taxation NOW!",
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About The AuthorSign Up RIGHT NOW in the Opt In Box located on the top right hand side of this article.
Warren Kruger is an Australian Tax Specialist and Advisor. For a FREE Report “7 Essential Strategies to Reduce Your Taxation NOW!”,enter your name and email address in the Opt In Box located on the top right hand side of this article.
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