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Just a reminder that Australian tax payers who travel for work purposes may like to check out the ATO Taxation Determination TD 2006/43 before submitting your 2006/2007 tax returns.
simongr said:I think you could only claim incidentals - it was hard to find a definition of these - and all I could find was:
OUS establishes the definition of incidental expenses. Incidental expenses are combined with meals into a single rate and include, but are not limited to, expenses for laundry, cleaning and pressing of clothing, and fees and gratuities for services, such as for waiters and baggage handlers.
This was from a random google search that I am using as a bench mark. So if your employer pays laundry fees then you might be out of luck.
I need to think about this as my potential deduction is over $4000 - and I havent spent that on laundry fees
Shano said:As the per diem is paid for work related purposes I assume that it does not need to be declared as income.
Shano said:Hopefully my engineering brain has interpreted this correctly.
Yes, you can claim the reasonable amount without any substantiation (receipts etc.) If you can prove you travel, then there is little they can do. You just say it costs more than I am reimbursed and they can't do anything.Shano said:Typically my deductions each year barely add up to $1,000, so If I suddenly start claiming 4 x that it may well attract the attention of the ATO.
I wouldn't have any trouble justifying the number of nights away if audited, or that they were work related.
But discretion is probably warranted as you suggested. If I stay in a motel in BNE for $85 a night and claim the allowance of $172 - is this considered reasonable.
Time to talk to the accountant I think.
Read the TD. There are more requirements than just being work-related. For example, you must actually be paid an allowance to cover the claimed category (accommodation, meals, incidentals), you must have actually incurred he expense, etc.Shano said:I wouldn't have any trouble justifying the number of nights away if audited, or that they were work related.
Not by my understanding of the TD. It clearly says that the expense must have actually been incurred. Now if you have actually spent $172 on accommodation and your employer had only paid you an accommodation allowance of $100, then I believe you would be entitled to a tax deduction for the extra $72 that you had paid out of your own pocket that is in excess of the allowance paid.Shano said:But discretion is probably warranted as you suggested. If I stay in a motel in BNE for $85 a night and claim the allowance of $172 - is this considered reasonable.
Indeed that is a good option.Shano said:Time to talk to the accountant I think.
littl_flier said:i'm definitely getting audited this year. :evil: Whose your auditor, whose your auditor!!! Wait, I'm an auditor.
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OK, this is what I am trying to get clear - you have been effectively claiming the difference between what you are paid as a per diem and the maximum reasonable allowance (as determined by the ATO), even though your daily spend may be less than the maximum allowance?vt01 said:This year I travelled 35 days so was paid about $2200 in per diems while the ATO allows about $8000. So my claim for travelling expenses this year is for about $5800.