The start of a new financial year sees some 10 million Australian’s complete their individual tax returns. The latest commentary from the ATO is that there are certain deductions they will be checking this year with a fine tooth comb. These include:
– Car usage claims
– Work-related clothing; and
– Laundry costs
It is a myth that individuals can automatically claim $150 for work-related clothing and laundry – it needs to be for occupation-specific clothing. For example – office attire that can be worn outside work is not claimable. Find out more here.
Many people try and fly under the radar by claiming up to allowable limits without receipts:
As such, the ATO is on to people who claim round numbers and will cross-check this against your occupation to see if it’s a legitimate claim.
Because Australian’s avoid paying almost $9b in tax each year either through genuine mistakes on their tax returns, or those who decide to throw caution to the wind and claim more then what they should be.
As a result of most tax returns being done online, the ATO is better able to track and identify incorrect claims. A large portion of tax returns are now auto-filled, making mistakes much less likely to happen.
The ATO also cross-checks data from many third parties to ensure people are correctly claiming accurate income. With most of these transactions occurring in a digital environment, it makes this process much easier.
Some of the areas the ATO monitors:
In summary, it’s not worth claiming deductions that you’re not entitled to or under-estimate your income. The ATO is very clear on this position, and it has the authority to access third-party data to check the legitimacy of your tax return.
You can request an amendment to your tax return if you’ve made a mistake or left some information out that needs to be included. Feel free to get in touch with one of our team who can walk you through this process.
It’s important to seek professional advice if your unsure as to which deductions you may be eligible for.
Get in touch with the team if you’re not sure, we are happy to help.
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