Tax deductions (1 Viewer)

[loquasagacious]

Just a quick question:

Are textbooks for uni counted as an educational expense and hence tax deductible?

 

[L45er]

Just a quick question:

Are textbooks for uni counted as an educational expense and hence tax deductible?

Haha, no idea but be good if they are seeing they're so damn costly... Already sent my return off though...bah.

 

[breaking]

if they are related to yr work then yeah they are

 

[LeftrightOut]

Just a quick question:

Are textbooks for uni counted as an educational expense and hence tax deductible?

Quick answer:
Depends on your accountant

 

[loquasagacious]

Lol.

Thing is textbook costs aren't related to current work but will be to future work....

Honestly I'd just like a big fat reduction for them, in future I will be keeping more reciepts and thinking of more inventive ways eg cars under caompany names etc.

 

[LeftrightOut]

Lol.

Thing is textbook costs aren't related to current work but will be to future work....

Do you have a job at the moment? I wrote off all communication and marketing type textbooks because I was sort of working sales during uni, plus I had my own company so all business related things were good to go too I couldn't do it with HECS at that stage but I am doing PELS through self education at the moment.

It will depend on your accountant though and how well you can explain your case and how well they think you might survive an audit with that explanaition.

 

[_Bushra_]

I'm getting back $240!!!

*excitement*

 

[acmilan]

I was told by a friend that her accountant said you can use hecs upfront paymets as deductions. Any truth in this?

 

[LeftrightOut]

I was told by a friend that her accountant said you can use hecs upfront paymets as deductions. Any truth in this?

Only if it relates to your current occupation and not a possible future career or position.
Of course it depends on your accountant on how far they would push this. I deferred my HECS/PELS last year and wrote it all off anyway because it was work related.

 

[mr_shittles]

I was told by a friend that her accountant said you can use hecs upfront paymets as deductions. Any truth in this?

Unfortunately not. HECS is not deductible under any circumstances.

If you do a uni course (HECS or otherwise) that is related to your employment, you can claim the cost of your textbooks & course materials, plus that proportion of your student activity fees that relate to the subject you study.

For example, if you are a marketing student, doing a marketiong job part time and you do a commerce degree. Last financial year, you may have done two subjects each in accounting, marketing, finance and economics. The deductions here would be 25% of your student activity fees (since 2/8 subjects were marketing) plus the costs of your textbooks and course materials for marketing.

I think because the tax office is tight-arse, you may also have to reduce your claim by $250 if you fall into a certain category. Read the Tax Pack . . . it's as clear as mud!

 

[acmilan]

Only if it relates to your current occupation and not a possible future career or position.
Of course it depends on your accountant on how far they would push this. I deferred my HECS/PELS last year and wrote it all off anyway because it was work related.

Well when I was working this year, I was working in an IT department, and I am doing a BIT. This is the only place I worked this financial year, and although im not currently working there I am still on their payroll as they are expecting me to return during the holidays again. I guess ill have to speak to an accountant and see what they say.

 

[choco]

is the 2005 tax pack been out yet?

 

[Lorie]

deductions are work related expenses. So u can only deduct educational expenses if they are directly required for ur work, eg cadetship, traineeship. So just because this is what u wanna do later on doesn't mean it is a deduction.

 

[Skittled]

is the 2005 tax pack been out yet?

Yep. Taxpack is available from newsagents, and the e-Tax program (thousands of times easier, in my opinion) is available, too, from the ATO website.

Clarification:
...According to the ATO's Self Eductaion Expenses website, As has been said above, you can only claim uni expenses (and not your fees, I believe... Definetly not if it's HECs (deferred), not so sure about if you pay upfront.) if it's helping your CURRENT JOB: will get you a pay rise, or a better position directly related to your CURRENT JOB. This can be pretty broad, by the look of it (ie general subjects for an accountant, in the example here), but must be related.

Additionally if it's over $300, you need receipts for the entire sum, not just the amount over $300 (ie, you want to claim $500 worth of expenses, you need to have receipts for $500, not just $200). Trick is to keep all your receipts, for this.

 

[braindrainedAsh]

I've never claimed deductions before, but I can claim work uniforms for hospitality and retail, right? Do I need the reciepts? I have some but I am not sure if I have all of them. What about travel costs to and from work, and do you need bus and train tickets as evidence?

Can you claim deductions for costs that were incurred when you were undertaking voluntary unpaid work?

lol I am keen for as many deductions as I can get!

So if you are claiming under $300 do you have to provide reciepts, or only if you are audited?

 

[Skittled]

I've never claimed deductions before, but I can claim work uniforms for hospitality and retail, right? Do I need the reciepts? I have some but I am not sure if I have all of them. What about travel costs to and from work, and do you need bus and train tickets as evidence?

Can you claim deductions for costs that were incurred when you were undertaking voluntary unpaid work?

lol I am keen for as many deductions as I can get!

So if you are claiming under $300 do you have to provide reciepts, or only if you are audited?

I think everyone is as keen to get as many deductions as possible!

It depends on the type of costs, and the type of uniforms, etc. Technically, you should only claim uniform gear which is only possible to wear at work. Ie has your employer's name embroided into it, preventing you from wearing it elsewhere. If you bought, say, shoes, which you could wear outside work, you can't claim them (or, can claim a portion of them, at best).

You can't claim travel expenses from home to work, from memory. Only from Work->Work, or Work->Educational Institution, or Educ. Inst.->Work.

If you're claiming under $300 worth of stuff (which woudl result in about $60 returned), you don't need receipts. Even if you're audited (which isn't what you should be owrring about: just do it right in the first place. That said, I'm not too sure the tax office will worry about auditing us at our age: it's not worht the effort and there are bigger fish to fry with the limited wage budgets they have for employing auditors). If you're claiming more than $300, you need receipts for all of it.

 

[acmilan]

Just did my taxes online, getting $632 back

 

[Minai]

Can you claim deductions for costs that were incurred when you were undertaking voluntary unpaid work?

No, to claim a general deduction, the expenditure must be incidental and relevant to your gaining or producing assessable income. As you incurred these expenditures on voluntary unpaid work, the expenditure did not occur in the course of gaining income, and therefore would not be deductible in general.
However, specific deduction provisions in the Income Tax Assessment Act could provide a deduction, I'm not sure off the top of my head - best to talk to a tax accountant.

 

[choco]

how long does it take to get tax back? i did mine like a while ago!

 

[LaZy_KoReAn]

Is it $300 for total deductions or each individual section?