Business expense claims must be justified for this financial year
Remember to keep dated records of all your business expenses and offsets, including:
- Timing of expenses – Expenses are generally deductible if incurred by 30 June 2014. This requires a presently existing liability.
- Gifts – Donate to deductible charities before 30 June 2014
- Bad debts – Review bad debts before 30 June 2014
- Trading stock – Scrap unwanted stock by 30 June 2014
Home office expenses
- Home office expenses may be deductible where you carry on business or employment activities at home
- Portion of interest, rent and insurance are not deductible unless you are carrying on business from home and the area is separate and distinguished from private living areas
- Power, heating and depreciation can be claimed at a flat rate established by the Tax Office even if the room is not exclusively set aside for a home office
- If an office is provided by the employer, working from home as a convenient place to do part of the work will not be sufficient to claim home office expenses.
Car expenses
- If claiming actual expenses, check the log book is current and that log book details are correct
- Ensure year end odometer readings are taken
- Ensure all relevant receipts have been kept.
Prepaid investments
- The prepaid investment expenses rules apply to all taxpayers.
- There is an exception for interest expenditure on:
- Real estate investments;
- Shares in listed companies; and
- Units in widely held unit trust (300 beneficiaries).