The Australian Tax Office (ATO) has released a set of recommendations for workers ahead of tax declarations, warning them of the dangers of copying and pasting from last year when their conditions have materially changed.
Many brokers, who previously worked in offices or travelled for work, will fall into this category.
Working from home has seen categories that were previously tax deductible, such as travelling expenses, plummet by as much as 5%, while other expenses, such as home working space, are expected to rise.
“We know many people started working from home during COVID-19, so a jump in these claims is expected,” said Assistant Commissioner Tim Loh. “But, if you are working at home, we would not expect to see claims for travelling between worksites, laundering uniforms or business trips.”
“While it’s good to see most people have been doing the right thing, our data analytics will be on the lookout for unusually high claims this tax time. Particularly where someone’s deductions are much higher than others with a similar job and income.”
The ATO has issued advice on claiming home expenses, instructing people to keep a record of the time that they spend working, such as via a timesheet, in order to correctly claim their expenses.
Things like electricity, cleaning costs, phone and internet, computer equipment and office equipment can all be claimed back, if the taxpayer has receipts and records of their time spent working at home.
“We will also look closely at anyone with significant working from home expenses, that maintains or increases their claims for things like car, travel or clothing expenses. You can’t simply copy and paste previous year’s claims without evidence.”
“But we know some of these unusual claims may be legitimate. So, if you explain your claim with evidence, you have nothing to fear. We also want to reassure the community that we will be sympathetic to legitimate mistakes where good faith efforts have been made. However, where we spot people deliberately claiming things they’re not entitled to, we will take firm action.”
