Tax Time Targets

With tax season almost upon us the Australian Taxation Office (ATO) has revealed its four areas of focus this tax season.

1. Record-keeping
2. Work-related expenses
3. Rental property income and deductions
4. Capital gains from crypto assets, property, and shares

In general, there are three 'golden rules' when claiming tax deductions: you must have spent the money and not been reimbursed; if the expense is for a mix of work related and private use, you can only claim the portion that relates to how you earn your income; and you need to have a record to prove it.

Record keeping

101 of working with the ATO is that you can't claim it if you can't prove it. You need to keep your records for five years. These can be digital copies of the records as long as they are clear and legible copies of the original.

Work-related expenses

To claim a deduction, you need to have incurred the expense yourself and not been reimbursed by your employer or business, and the expense needs to be directly related to your work.

Rental property income and deductions

For landlords, the focus is on ensuring that all income received, whether long-term, short-term, rental bonds, back payments, or insurance pay-outs, are recognised in your tax return.

Capital gains from crypto, property or other assets

If you dispose of an asset — property, shares, crypto or NFTs, collectables (costing $500 or more) — you will need to calculate the capital gain or loss and record this in your tax return.