Claim Travel Expenses on My Tax Return

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Australian Taxation Office

• 

  Clear on 09/08/2016 - 20:14

  Yep. I frequently fly between states for work and have claimed it for years without issue.

  • 

    PetPenguin on 09/08/2016 - 20:31

    Thank you very much for posting an answer.

    The thing is that I am not employed by this company in Tasmania. I flew there to work for them for a short period of time under a casual contract. Do you think it would still apply?

    Cheers!

    • 

      Cyphar on 10/08/2016 - 08:33

      +3

      You cannot claim travel expenses that get you from home to work. In this case, you either commuted or relocated, which aren't claimable.

      Regardless, I'd still go talk to a tax consultant. They would know more about it than anybody else here

  • 

    [Deactivated] on 10/08/2016 - 11:39

    Have you ever been audited?

    • 

      Clear on 10/08/2016 - 11:57

      No. Is what I'm doing wrong?

      Travelling from work site A to work site B via air.

      • 

        [Deactivated] on 11/08/2016 - 08:25

        Your accountant/tax agent will advise you; it depends on a few factors.

      • 

        Clear on 11/08/2016 - 09:02

        @Ninjastud: I do it myself so that won't help :P

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  airzone on 09/08/2016 - 20:15

  +1

  You can normally claim travel expenses. What you did seemed more like a commute though, and you can't claim your commute.

  But if you're not making more than 80% (if I recall) of your normal income from a single place, and you're contracting (i.e. you have an ABN), then you could probably claim it..

  You'd have to describe the nature of the work, and your relationship to the company in more depth to get a better answer.

  • 

    PetPenguin on 09/08/2016 - 20:28

    Hi,

    Thanks for your message, I have sent you a reply in a private conversation.

    • 

      airzone on 09/08/2016 - 21:29

      The crux of my opinion is that if you are a standard wage/salary earner, then travel to and from work is a private expense and not claimable. In this instance, PetPenguin travelled to go to work, not because his/her work required that the travel take place as part of work. As such, there is little difference between driving a car or flying a plane.

  • 

    CheapskateQueen on 09/08/2016 - 22:20

    +2

    This answer is completely out of left field. There's no such thing as an 80% (or any %) rule

    • 

      airzone on 10/08/2016 - 00:57

      That was more along the lines of individual contractors working for a single company, or earning from multiple sources. It would feed into who was responsible for workers comp insurance, super, and also whether you can call your home your principle place of business and claim your drive to see your "clients", cover a portion of your mortgage interest, etc. The 80% came from a conversation with a nice lady at the ATO as a rule of thumb i.e. if 80% or more of your income as a contractor came from one source, then you were considered an employee of that source for tax purposes..

      Anyway it's a moot point as the op doesn't fall under the above and was a fixed term contract employee under a wage. The travel was to get to work, not for work. Therefore can't claim.

• 

  CheapskateQueen on 09/08/2016 - 22:23

  Sounds like you travelled to get to work (not claimable) as opposed to traveling as part of your job (claimable)

  However you haven't given enough information of your situation. Therefore any answers given to you by anyone are poor guesses, including my own

• 

  loke on 10/08/2016 - 01:19

  +1

  I saw your post earlier in the night but forgot to reply;

  was checking on relocation expenses but that wasn't relevant and then picked up this entry on getting, changing, or maintaining a job

  this section from is the most relevant

  https://books.google.com.au/books?id=WZFiWy8qrrEC&pg=PA905&l…

  • 

    PetPenguin on 11/08/2016 - 09:33

    Thank you very much. Really appreciate the help.

• 

  spal on 10/08/2016 - 05:19

  +1

  If you commenced your work in Tassie and travelled for work to mainland, you could claim as work related expenses. However, in your cases it appears to be travel to work, in that cases the expenses is considered incurred too soon in time, as you have not yet commenced your income producing activity, hence can't claim.
  The other option could be to see if the employer is will to reimburse you for the travel, which would be deductible expenses for them. No harm in asking nicely.
  TLDR: No

  • 

    PetPenguin on 11/08/2016 - 09:40

    Yes, I think you are right. The answer I have been given mostly is, no because it falls under a commute expense, not a travel expense.
    Thanks for taking the time to reply.

• 

  Sweetnsour on 10/08/2016 - 16:59

  If you are an employee PAYG it's likely no. But if you are working like you are intermittently and have an ABN like a contractor and paid like a contractor then it's likely yes. But definitely speak to an accountant for this tax stuff which usually gets updated regularly.

  • 

    PetPenguin on 11/08/2016 - 09:46

    Thank you very much for replying.
    I was hoping to save the $130 that I would have to pay to get an accountant to do my tax return. My taxes are very easy to do, I just had this question.

    • 

      Sweetnsour on 11/08/2016 - 20:40

      If you do your own tax return, you may save 130 and any uni student can complete, but an up to date accountant can save you more in theory and help you plan year ahead. The latter is always underrated.

      • 

        bemybubble on 11/08/2016 - 21:39

        Agreed. As an accountant far too often do I see people try to save money on fees only to dip out on refund. I had a situation where someone did their own but their mother approached me to redo it. Cost them 200 bucks but I found them another 1800 :P