Top tips for teachers wanting to get on-top of their taxes in 2021

TaxFox's tax expert Andrew Chia says “For teachers, we have identified the following examples which would be eligible deductions as part of preparing their tax return."

1 General sun protection clothing and gear, these include could be a school hat, and sunscreen

• We would recommend that all receipts are kept for all deductions claimed.
• Consider using apps like TaxFox to electronically record and take photo evidence of these tax invoices.

2 Union fees and membership fees as part of their association

• You may have paid these invoices via bank transfer or EFT.
• With all tax invoices we would recommend that you take photo evidence of these tax invoices as to assist with record keeping.

3 Working from home expenses which relate to HSC marking which may include electricity and/or internet expenses

• Record the amount of time used as part of the process and you may be able to use an ATO shortcut methodology to claim on a cents per hour basis.
• Otherwise it may be worthwhile to explore the actual methodology using an acceptable floor space allocation key.
• Remember that the space should be dedicated work space, otherwise a prorated calculation needs to be considered.

4 Extra curricular activities which are part of paid employment for example sports activities would also mean that additional travel may be required so a claim for a motor vehicle expenses may arise

There are two ways of deducting a work-related motor vehicle deduction using a log book or the cents per km methodology.

• A log book requires you to keep a log of all trips for up to 12 weeks and to determine a work to personal percentage to claim your motor vehicle deductions; Remember that work to home trips are NOT work related
• The cents per km approach may be easier to adopt as we need to only log work related trips in the financial year and apply them against the ATO predetermined rate provided to calculate your deduction
• There may be additional travel related deductions such as parking and tolls which are on top of the motor vehicle related deductions.

5 Additional teaching materials purchased as part of the term for a subject or students would also be deductible

With items 1 and 2, please note that these require tax invoices to substantiate and we would recommend that you take photo evidence of these tax invoices as to assist with record keeping.