Here are some more of the unusual tax deductions you may not even be aware you can claim.

1. Sunscreen

If your profession means you’re outside working all day, you can include SPF protection, and for women, this also includes makeup with SPF. However, this doesn’t include if you happen to have a few work meetings outdoors in the park or outside space.

2. Moisturiser

While the travel industry isn’t in full swing for this year, we’re all hoping it will make a resurgence soon, if you’re a pilot or air hostess you can claim hydration moisturisers. Everyday makeup can’t be claimed; however, hydration blends can be.

3. Work handbag

Each year you can claim a workbag. A laptop bag or carry backpack can be claimed, but you’ll need to be careful when trying to claim a designer luxury handbag. If you can prove you carry your laptop, tablet, and documents in a bag for work you can claim it. But the ATO will be onto it if you try and put through a $3000 Louis Vuitton tote, so talk to your tax advisor on what you can claim.

4. Protection clothing

Wet weather gear and sun protection clothing can be claimed for anyone who works outdoors full-time. Some of the jobs where this happens are for lifeguards, tradies, construction workers, farmers, and road workers. Things to claim could be hats, gloves and waterproof clothing. Shoes can also be claimed if they are compulsory to work shoes like work boots.

5. Home office

You can claim expenses related to running a home office if you’re an employee who can prove you regularly work from home. You have three ways to claim:

  • 80c per hour
  • 52c per hour
  • Actual method.

So it’s good to keep records of how many hours you have spent working from home, as well as your running costs so we can work out the best deduction.

6. Further education

As long as it’s work-related and you’re doing further study with a qualified education provider, you may claim study expenses. You can’t claim expenses relating to a HECS or HELP study debt, and unfortunately, there are also rules on study related to your specific job. So, in other words, you can’t do an interior design course because you want to remodel your home and try and claim it as a deduction if your main job is as an accountant.

7. Gym equipment

Before you start running off to buy the latest treadmill for the office, check with your tax advisor on what can be potentially claimed for your line of business. But if you have an office set up, you could be eligible to claim things like an x-box console, ping pong table or pool table if you have a leisure area to keep your workers happy and engaged in better productivity.

8. Dogs

If you’re a business (as opposed to an employee), the costs of maintaining a guard dog or working dog can be considered a tax deduction. It’s regarded as a capital asset and you can claim an immediate deduction for the whole cost using the instant asset write off for small businesses. The same logic applies to sheepdogs, used on a farm.

9. Paintings

Businesses with a turnover of up to $500 million, can access an instant asset write off until 30 June 2023 for paintings and artwork. If you’ve been wanting to buy a particular artwork for a waiting room clinic or boardroom, for instance, this may be a tax deduction.

If you qualify for any of the above deductibles, your next tax bill could look quite different. Always confirm which items you can deduct on the ATO website though, as rules can change.

10. Media subscriptions

In the new digital media world, many media publications are now subscription-based and can be deductible if they relate to your trade or profession. Subscriptions to newspapers, professional magazines, TV journals and podcasts can be claimed if they can be proven to link to your profession.

11. Donations

Many people forget that donations to registered charities are tax-deductible. If you kept the receipt, you could claim donations of $2 or more that were made to an appropriate charitable organisation.

12. Social functions

If attending a social event has a direct connection to your work duties, you may qualify for a tax deduction. An example of this would be if a reporter attends an event that they will later report on for their news outlet. However, as a general rule, the ATO won’t let you claim any tax deductions for a night out, even if your employer makes it compulsory.

Need more assistance?

At Carbon, we can help you understand and navigate what can be claimed for your business. We can also offer services in bookkeeping, payroll, financial planning, finance and lending, business insurance and advisory.

Contact us