My return wasnt anything huge and just went to bills, what are you spending yours on? Let me live vicariously through you!
What Are You Spending Your Tax Return on?
cassidy02 on 15/07/2018 - 12:10
Comments
#humblebrag
Replies to first comment to get to the top of the thread, even though its not related to their comment… yep that's an attention seeker.
@danielh:
By stone around your neck, do you mean a comically large diamond hanging from a gold necklace?@zhandu: Ahhhh welcome to the journey of hating banks. :-)
In your position, I would (if you can) consider getting a variable loan with a 100% off-set account and try your best to stick as much spare cash into this as possible. If you also have a regular credit card debt, I would recommend paying that off at the last possible day (maybe just do auto payment from your off-set) to maximise the cash that stays in the off-set (this method actually saves quite a bit of cash in less interest over the long term).
Unless you can find a way that will generate more return for your cash (after tax), some people consider shares, bitcoin, other risky endeavours etc but I'm a low risk taker and so my personal preference is to just stick it in the off-set.
Other options to consider if you are almost completely stint after paying off the initial down payment, is to start with fixed (which gives no 100% off-set) for a few years while you slowly start to build up your savings (and hopefully give you time to get a few promotions or better paying job opportunities) to be in a position to actually switch back to a variable home loan and actually have the cash to stink into the 100% off-set account.
I wish you all the best on this one and I hope you got a good interest rate.
@HighAndDry: Thanks. I noticed, but they were legitimate working claims and for some reason when I did the original post I could not add it to the one below that talked about $15k worth of claims.
Oh well, live and learn.
I have finally paid off my mortgage through hard work over many years.
Ur bragging
:/
@danielh:
Took a couple of years to absorb having no rentor mortgage.
10 years on it's still a big plus in life.
Congrats on getting mortgage paid off.@username02: Thanks. I'm now getting twitchy and have been looking around for potential investment properties in Melbourne but definitely plan to take it slow and wait for the market to settle a bit (and for me to work out my current contract extension). :-)
Yeah well I'm expecting back $9.5k
per week !!!
I always put my tax return into shares.
I read shoes.
Who do you share them with?
For Australia I use Selfwealth and Saxo Capital for international. I might move to CMC or IB but undecided.
Not quite the same, but I had to go spend ~15k on IT parts (ahem expenses) so as to reduce my taxable income.
but had they been 'lega' expenses, that is the question!
Yes, all legit as I use them for work. I found out the hard way a few years back that you either spend the $, or pay the tax man.
Ok then. But a $15k deduction isn't $15k back in your pocket, you'll only get what tax you paid on that money. So anything from 30-48% back. So it still cost you money ;)
@xuqi: Hmmm ok…. So you spend $15k on gear to get a max of $7.5k back on tax…. So you're still down $7.5k?
That $15k of gear, still cost you an out of pocket $7.5k or $10k if you're in the 30% tax bracket ;)
@Logical: Than you would need to declare the income and pay tax on it.
So unless you're failing to declare your income, you're still behind - unless you sell them at a profit, in which case good on you, but you'll only have even more tax to pay.
$15,000 is enough to justify an audit. Even if it's just to check that you didn't accidentally add an extra zero. Hopefully your receipts/proof of work-related usage is all in order…
@JimmyF: Down $7.5k in cash, but breaking even, and ahead considering tax, if you count the goods they bought as being valuable and useful. Which I assume they are. They're just not liquid, and will depreciate - but that's irrelevant unless OP is looking for a monetary return.
It's like spending money on a "business lunch". Sure - that's still money out of your pocket, but you at least had a good meal to show for it, as opposed to giving (even part of) the money to the taxman.
@ely: They're still not behind, unless you count the purchased goods as being useless.
E.g.:
Make $100,000 - pay $30,000 tax - take home $70,000 (total $70,000).
Make $100,000 - buy $10,000 parts - pay $27,000 tax - take home $63,000 PLUS $10,000 in parts (total $73,000).
You're better off by $3,000.
They're still not behind, unless you count the purchased goods as being useless.
We'll the usefulness / value becomes questionable if they're purchasing just for the sake of it. It doesn't seem like it's something they actually needed.
So it becomes more like: Take home $70,000 vs $63,000 PLUS $10,000 in stuff you don't quite need.
Make $100,000 - pay $30,000 tax - take home $70,000 (total $70,000).
Make $100,000 - buy $10,000 parts - pay $27,000 tax - take home $63,000 PLUS $10,000 in parts (total $73,000).
Ummm the $10k in parts isn't 'income', the OP can't spend it, its no not cash in the bank.
You're better off by $3,000.
So CASH in the bank to spend of $70k vs $63k and yet you still claim they are '$3k' better off.
Hmmmmm you're maths don't add up.
So it becomes more like: Take home $70,000 vs $63,000 PLUS $10,000 in stuff you don't quite need.
and the kicker is if you sell that $10k you have to pay tax on it again.
@JimmyF: So you bought 15 GTX 1080 TI's, mined with them until you got ROI, then sold them for a profit, and claimed them on Tax?
@HighAndDry: If they're getting some use out of it yes; that's not the impression I get from the OP.
@mgnovenie: lol, you don't have to declare the $13k as income when you flip the IT parts because it is not an ordinary income-generating activity.
HOWEVER, the key point that people forget here is that you CANNOT CLAIM THE FULL $15k DEDUCTION IN ONE GO. Rather, it has to depend on the lifetime of the parts, which is usually 3-5 yea at the minimum. Well, unless you tell me that every single part is less than $300.
Unless you own a large business, it's hard to fathom 15k on IT expenses…
If you claim significantly more than your peers you risk the wrath of ATO auditing you…
Don't know why you're being downvoted. Yes - increasing your expenses to 'lower' your tax bill is very much a "spend money to save money" kind of paradox (which usually doesn't end well), but if you're paying a good price for it, you are still getting the value of the money you spent back in actual usable goods, as opposed to taxes you pay which goes to (profanity)-if-I-know.
Its spend $15k to save $7.5k…………………………. maths not your thing?
I think it's the worse idea to spend your tax return immediately. Just save it until you need to buy something or a good bargain comes up :)
Our returns usually just go into the offset account.
agreed! Invest it, wisely.
I invested my tax returns, bought an investment property eventually (albeit with a mass of debt). Just sold it, now i have a huge tax bill :(
Damn capital gains!
Why did you sell it?
Market's trending down - good time to sell.
What HightAndDry said, but also i had a 50% share with my best mate, and we decided it was best to separate our cash and invest in our own things, the market timing was the catalyst.
Go fast car parts.
Neon lights then?
Speed stripe
Speed holes
RGB, makes car go faster
Fridge, washing machine, dryer, lawn mower, whipper snipper, microwave, robot vacuum, Eneloops.
Next time just write one word: xiaomi
Band 28 ?
Summed it up pretty briefly, lol!
Just a reminder for everyone that tax returns aren't bonuses. We're just getting back what was taken from us over the last year.
In that case, you won't mind giving me some of that unguaranteed bonus : )
Been doing tax returns for over twenty years.
I have always received a refund.That's cause you've always overpaid your taxes.
Nah, sometimes it just depends on how hard your accountant is willing to work
@Deridas: Yes, that's exactly what it means.
To be more precise, it means I always have a reasonable number of deductions.
@blaircam: It also means you probably haven't managed to generate enough investment income. Personally I have had to pay extra tax the last 5 years, it sucks, but it also means even with all my deductions I am earning far more than they charge me in tax throughout the year. Personally while I hate getting tax bills, I would much prefer my $20k tax bill then finding I am owed $20k.
cant vote this up enough. always amused when people splurge with tax returns, any excuse to spend money on things you don't need i guess, so much for enforced savings
It goes into the bank and pays off the credit card bill at the end of each month. However, on living vicariously we do have enough FF points to go business class to Europe next year on Emirates with Qantas points. Will prob come back Virgin when we see what is available in July - sadly will be cattle class back but Gold level gives us lounge and priority check in. Hope that helps :)
Check prices for ScootBiz - often good deals one-way whereas it’s hard to justify the one-way vs return price for other carriers.
thanks for the tip.
I earned more than I anticipated and now government wants me to pay them instead of them paying me! gah!
It happens. Add in some share dividends and you can soon find yourself prepaying tax.
Same. Don't owe much, but still stings to see how much tax you've paid, only to then be asked for more money :'(
I try not to make the mistake of keeping imaginary seperate ledgers so the tax return is just another incoming rather than a something to be spent as though it's a bonus or something.
On the home office, so I can claim it back next year. I realised the taxman dont care if I have full Razer RGB setup and $500 gaming chairs in my office, he just wants a receipt. So come Tuesday my home office is gonna look like a Pride Parade..
Razer lol Garbage quality at top prices.
I am looking forward to my Yellow switch keyboard actually, and My Razer Naga is still quite serviceable after 4 years, but the high DPI, customizable pressure, low latency and wireless function of the Mamba is worth it, and the RGB makes me happy. If you gonna sh*t on a brand, suggest an alternative maybe.
Logitech or Steelseries.
I prefer Zowie due to it's shape and it's stiffer clicks but that's not for everyone.
@stormii: Logitech quality control one of the best out there no idea how you got the idea there bad.
@Axelstrife: Didn't say they were bad, they just don't compare. They are my budget serviceable choice. The beauty of the Mamba is I can make the clicks as stiff or loose as i prefer, and program it for different profiles.
@stormii: That stiffer click feature is cool (didn't know about that before). but there's nothing else on the mouse that's better than logitech.
Logitech have better quality control, better wireless technology, less weight on their wireless models, better battery life.
Just the bad QC is enough reason for me to never purchase another razer product.Good luck though, you probably will need it.
@stormii: https://www.pccasegear.com/products/42319/logitech-g560-ligh…
Theres also a RGB Soundbar if that's more your style
https://www.pccasegear.com/products/39433/creative-sound-bla…Hope your PC is kitted with RGB there's RGB for literally every part now it's insane.
@Axelstrife: The keyboard, mouse, mousepad and headphones will throb to music, but i think i need a rgb soundbar, now that i know it exists. Thanks :D
Bring on the unicorn vomit
By that logic just get a GTX1080Ti, you know, because you need something to connect your screen to to use Excel.
Now your thinking with your tax cheque!
So buy the Ti with the refund and claim a deduction/depreciation next year? Nice!
Lol. I did exactly that in June 2017. In that year I claimed about $14 for the 1080TI (as I only had it for a week) and only this year will I be able to claim the full one year (straight line) depreciation on it of $733.
yes he does, because you are not able to claim 100% deduction on a home office, unless it is 100% used for work.
If the invoice says Razer RGB setup or gaming than the auditor will certainly assume at least 1% of time is used for a non deductible recreation activities unless prove otherwise.
Paying my hecs lol
(profanity) that haha
HECS is the best loan you can get. Don't pay it back voluntarily unless you absolutely have to.
Straight into the old UBank Saver.
A stick of fairy floss a large bottle of BBQ sauce 3 brand new underpants and a Ice Cream Strawberry Chupa Chup.
I spent those on paying taxes.