Ross, Cowley & Co. Certified Practicing Accountants

Individual Tax Return Information

Capital Gains on Property

Information Required from Purchase Details: Purchase Date, Purchase Price, Stamp Duty, Legal Fees, Building Inspection Fees, Pest Inspection Fees etc
Information Required from Sale Details: Sale Date, Sale Price, Agent’s Commission, Legal Fees etc

Depreciation

“A depreciating asset is an asset that has a limited effective life and can reasonably be expected to decline in value over the time it is used.”
For Work: Items that cost more than $100 are required to be depreciated.
For Rental Properties: Items that cost more than $300 are required to be depreciated.

Donations

Donations worth more than $2 are deductible. However, if in donating to the charity you purchase an item such as a raffle ticket or merchandise, you cannot claim the donation.

Education

Education expenses that are directly related to your work are deductible. Expenses include textbooks, stationery, student union fees, depreciation on equipment and repairs to equipment. Travel from your place of work to the education facilities or vice versa are also claimable. Course Fees can be claimed unless those fees are a part of the HECS/HELP scheme.

Medical Expenses

Net medical expenses are the medical expenses you have paid, less any refunds you got, or could get, from Medicare or a private health fund. You can claim a tax offset of 20%- 20 cents in the dollar – of your medical expenses over $1,500.
The medical expenses must be for:

You
Your spouse – married or de facto – regardless of their income
Your children who were aged under 21 years including adopted and stepchildren, regardless of their income
Any other child under 21 years – not a student - who you maintained and whose separate net income (SNI) was less than $1,786

Claimable Medical Expenses: You can only claim expenses relating to an illness or operation paid to legally qualified doctors, nurses or chemists and public or private hospitals. However expenses for some cosmetic operations are included.
Medical Expenses which qualify for the tax offset also include payments:

To dentists, orthodontists, or registered dental mechanics
To opticians or optometrists, including for the cost of prescription spectacles or contact lenses.
To a carer who looks after a person who is blind or permanently confined to a bed or wheelchair.
For therapeutic treatment under the direction of a doctor.
For medical aids prescribed by the doctor
For artificial limbs or eyes and hearing aids.
For maintaining a properly trained dog for guiding or assisting people with disability (but not for social therapy)
For laser eye surgery
For treatment under IVF program.

Non Claimable Expenses:

Cosmetic operations for which a Medicare benefit is not payable
Dental services or treatment that are solely cosmetic
Therapeutic treatment where the patient is not formally referred by a doctor – a mere suggestion or recommendation by a doctor to the patient is not enough for the treatment to qualify; the patient must be referred to a particular person for specific treatment
Chemist-type items – such as tablets for pain relief – purchased in retail outlets or health food stores
Inoculations for overseas travel
Non-prescribed vitamins or health foods
Travel or accommodation expenses associated with medical treatment
Contributions to a private health insurer
Purchases from a chemist that are not related to an illness or operation
Life insurance medical examinations
Ambulance charges and subscriptions, and
Funeral expenses.

Nursing home: You can claim payments made to nursing homes or hostels (not retirement homes) if the payments were made to an approved care provider and the payments were made for residential aged care received by an approved recipient and the recipient was assessed as needing care at levels 1 to 7

Rental Properties

Expenses claimable include:

Advertising for tenants
Body Corporate Fees
Cleaning
Council Rates
Depreciation on Plant (See Depreciation for definition)
Gardening/Lawn Mowing
Insurance
Interest on Loans
Land Tax
Legal Fees
Pest Control
Property agent fees/commission
Repairs & Maintenance
Capital Works Deductions (See below for definition)
Stationery, telephone & postage
Travel Expenses (See Travel Expenses for more details)
Water Charges
Accounting Fees
Bank Charges
Maintenance Levies
Stamp duty on leased property

Capital Works Deduction: This refers to the ability to deduct certain types of construction expenditure. “Deductions based on construction expenditure apply to capital works such as a building or an extension, alterations (such as adding walls or removing walls) and structural improvements to the property.”

Travel Expenses

Vehicle Expenses: There are four methods of claiming motor vehicle expenses. Method 1 is referred to as the Cents per Kilometer approach (C.P.K), where the claim is based on a set rate for each business kilometer. In this method a total of 5000km per vehicle may be claimed throughout the entire tax return. Method 2 calculates the claim at 12% of the original value of the car. Method 3 claims one third of your motor vehicle expenses. Both Method 2 and 3 require the motor vehicle to have travelled more than 5000km. Method 4 is based on the business use percentage of each car expense. Method 1 and 4 are the predominant methods used.

Other Work Related Travel Expenses: This includes accommodation, air/bus/train fares, driving glasses, logbooks, meals, parking and tolls.