It’s easy to fall into the trap of spending money to avoid paying tax. Here are three things you can claim -with some conditions of course.
1. Can I claim my home internet?
Not all of it, it should be apportioned for private use and work related use. If you ‘say 50%’, if you are asked by the ATO then you need to prove that 50% of your internet usage is actually for work related or business purposes.
2. Can I claim my car?
Do you use it for work related purposes, have you maintained (completed) a log book for a 12-week period capturing all journey’s to determine a percentage for the motor vehicle usage? Have you kept diary entries of kilometres travelled for work related purposes? If you travel 5000 kilometers per year you don’t have to keep a logbook, but you need to be able to justify this claim. The ATO will most likely ask you if you use 5000 kilometers per year, is your employer paying you an allowance? If they are not, why not?
3. Can I claim my travel?
Domestic travel should be substantiated with documentation and diary evidence, even if the travel is less than 6 days in duration. If you fly to Melbourne, spend 1 day in the office and the rest of the trip is over the weekend and you return home on Tuesday, the travel should be apportioned for private use, as clearly only 1 day of the total trip is business related.
Don’t spend money unnecessarily – if you need to spend money for your business, spend it, if you don’t, don’t!