General news

Remember, your FSU membership fees are fully tax deductible – you can expect a copy of your FSU tax statement in your email soon, so keep an eye out. 

What else can I claim on tax? 

The Australian Taxation Office (ATO) has provided this handy guide for office workers to help understand what we can and can’t claim at tax time.  

Working from home expenses  

If you’ve been working from home, you’ll probably have some work-related expenses you can claim this tax time. 

There are two ways to calculate a work from home deduction:  

• the fixed rate method   
• the actual cost method.  

Using the fixed rate method allows you to claim a rate of 67 cents per hour worked at home.  

This amount covers all additional running expenses, such as electricity and gas, phone and internet usage, stationery, and computer consumables. 

You can, however, separately claim any depreciating assets, like office furniture or technology. To help with this, try the ATO’s depreciation tool. 

If you don’t use the fixed rate method – you’ll need to use the actual cost method, which means apportioning and calculating the actual costs you’ve incurred. 

The ATO has a page dedicated to work from home expenses where you can find out more.  

Receipts, receipts, receipts!  

Planning to claim work-related expenses? To claim a deduction for any work expense:  

• you must have spent the money yourself and you weren’t reimbursed.  
• the expense must directly relate to earning your income. 
• you must have records.   

It’s important you have the right records for what you want to claim. Here are a couple of things to remember:   

• Having records of your work-related expenses is essential. If you don’t have the proof to support your claim, you can’t claim it.   
• A bank or credit card statement (on its own) is not enough evidence to support a work-related expense claim. In most cases, you’ll need a receipt.  

Speaking of receipts, they must show all of the following:  

• the cost   
• the supplier  
• the date of purchase  
• the nature of the goods and/or services.  

You may need to keep other records depending on the expense type, such as a logbook of your car journeys or records of the hours you work from home. Find out more here.    

Have further questions about your work-related expenses?   

Speak to a registered tax agent, or check out the ATO website for information on:  

• car expenses  
• claiming a working from home deduction  
• clothing and laundry expenses  
• keeping records for work-related expenses.  

Stay safe online this tax time   

The ATO has reported more than a 300% increase in email impersonation scams in the last year.   

ATO impersonation scams are generally at their peak at tax time. Scammers know Australians are focused on lodging their tax return, updating their personal information, and may be anticipating refunds. 

Visit www.ato.gov.au/scamsafe for more information on how to protect yourself. 

This article is intended as general information only and you should consult a registered tax agent about your individual circumstances before making any decisions.