When it comes to doing your tax return right, knowing the most common deductions that may be claimed in your industry is important. Below is a list of the top #10 deductions for health services workers to consider when preparing their tax return.
Top 10 deductions for Health Service workers
- Travel between different workplaces
If you receive a travel allowance to cover work-related travel expenses, here’s what you need to know about claiming deductions according to the Australian Taxation Office (ATO):
- Deductible Expenses: You can claim a deduction for travel expenses incurred when you’re away from your home overnight for work. These expenses include accommodation, meals, and incidentals12.
- Travel Allowance: If your travel allowance is shown on your annual income statement or payment summary:
- Include the allowance as income in your tax return.
- Claim a deduction for the amount you spent on deductible travel expenses.
- Keep Detailed Records: Maintain detailed travel expense records unless your deduction falls within reasonable amounts specified by the ATO.
2. Uniform & laundry
When it comes to claiming deductions for clothing and laundry expenses in Australia, here’s what you need to know:
- Occupation-Specific Clothing:
- You can claim the cost of buying or cleaning occupation-specific clothing that distinctly identifies you with a particular job. Examples include a chef’s chequered pants or a judge’s robe.
- However, you cannot claim for clothes that are not specific to your occupation, are worn in multiple professions, or are everyday clothing (e.g., bartender’s black trousers, business suits, or swimwear for a swimming instructor).
- Protective Clothing:
- You can claim a deduction for clothing and footwear worn to protect you from real and likely risks related to your work activities or environment.
- Protective clothing includes items like fire-resistant gear, sun protection clothing (with a UPF rating), and safety-colored vests.
- Laundry Expenses:
- If you claim a deduction for laundering (washing and drying), keep records of how you calculate your claim.
- If your laundry expenses (washing, drying, and ironing) are $150 or less, you can claim the amount without providing written evidence
3. Self-Education Expenses
When it comes to self-education expenses in Australia, you can claim a deduction if the education relates to your employment activities. Here’s what you need to know:
- Eligible Expenses:
- Tuition and Course Fees: You can claim expenses related to courses at educational institutions (whether or not they lead to a formal qualification).
- Conferences and Seminars: Expenses for attending work-related conferences or seminars are deductible.
- Self-Paced Learning and Study Tours: Whether within Australia or overseas, these expenses qualify.
- Connection to Employment Income:
- You can claim a deduction if the expense:
- Maintains or Improves Skills: It’s connected to maintaining or improving specific skills or knowledge required for your job.
- Increases Income: It results in, or is likely to result in, an increase in your income from employment activities.
- Examples:
- Apprenticeship Course: If you’re an apprentice hairdresser and take a TAFE course related to your work, those expenses are deductible.
- Increased Income: For instance, if a programming language course leads to a pay rise in your current job, you can claim those expenses.
- When You Can’t Claim:
- The expense lacks a sufficient connection to your employment activities.
- You’re not employed at the time.It only generally relates to your job (e.g., unrelated fashion photography course while working as a casual sales assistant).
- It enables you to change employment (e.g., nurse to doctor transition).
4. Union Fees & Professional subscriptions i.e APHRA
When it comes to claiming deductions related to union fees and subscriptions in Australia, here’s what you need to know:
- Union Fees:
- You can claim a deduction for union fees paid to your trade union.
- These fees are considered work-related expenses and fall under the “Other work-related expenses” section of your tax return.
Subscriptions to Associations:
- You can also claim deductions for subscriptions to trade, business, or professional associations.
- These subscriptions must be relevant to your income-earning activities.
- Keep records of the fees or subscriptions you pay throughout the year.
- Bargaining Agent’s Fee:
- If you pay a bargaining agent’s fee to a union for negotiations on a new enterprise agreement or award with your existing employer, you can claim it as well.
5. Magazine / Journal subscriptions
When it comes to claiming deductions for work-related expenses related to magazines and journal subscriptions in Australia, here’s what you need to know:
Eligible Expenses:
You can claim a deduction for subscriptions to technical, scientific, trade, business, or professional journals.
These subscriptions must relate to the production of your assessable income.
What You Can’t Claim:
Unfortunately, you generally can’t claim a deduction for regular newspapers, news services, or general magazines. The cost of these subscriptions is considered a private expense.
However, if you can demonstrate a sufficient connection between specific employment duties and the content of a particular publication, you may be eligible to claim a deduction.
This is not an exhaustive list, each individual should get advice from their tax agent for their particular situation.
For further information, please contact us & we’ll be happy to answer any question you may have on the topic.