With the end of the tax year upon us, now is the time to see what you can do to reduce your tax for 2023.
Please contact us if you would like to discuss any of the information below.
For business tax matters, please click here
The Tax Office has recently updated its guidance in relation to claiming home office expenses. There are now two ways you can claim home office expenses. Under both methods, to be eligible to claim home office expenses, you must:
To calculate your working from home expenses, you can use the revised fixed rate method or the actual cost method. Remember, you can only claim the work-related part of an expense.
The revised fixed rate method allows you to claim 67 cents per hour you work from home for the expenses listed below. You no longer require a dedicated home office to use this method.
Expenses included in the revised fixed rate are:
You can’t claim a separate deduction for any of the expenses the revised fixed rate includes.
You can claim a separate deduction for:
The actual cost method allows you to claim a deduction for the actual expenses you incur as a result of working from home. You may be able to claim a deduction for each of the expenses you incur, such as:
For further details refer to the ATO Fact Sheet.
You can contribute into super as a concessional contribution up to $27 500 (including your employer contributions).
In order to claim the non-employer contribution as a deduction (your personal contribution), you would need to give your fund a form called “a notice of intent to claim” and receive an acknowledgment letter from your fund. Ensure any contributions are made by the 23rd June 2023 to ensure they are received in your fund by 30 June 2023.
These contributions will be taxed at 15% in the super fund if your income is less than $250 000 or at 30% if above this amount.
If your super account balance is less than $500 000 and you haven’t used the full amount of your contribution cap in previous years starting from 2019, you can use the previously unused amounts for up to five years. ie You can contribute more than $27 500 into super.
For example if you only contributed $15,000 of the maximum concessional amount of $27,500 in the 2022 year, you will be able to contribute an extra $12,500 (as well as your $27,500) in the 2023 year.
You can find out your unused contributions through your My Gov account or call us.
If your spouse’s income is less than $37 000 p.a and you make a contribution into their super account of up to $3,000, you will receive a tax offset of $540. This offset reduces to nil as their income increases to $40, 000 p.a
If you earn less than $57,016 and make an after-tax contribution to your superannuation fund, then the government will also contribute.
The amount you will receive depends on how much you contribute and how much you earn. If you earn less than $42,016, then for every dollar you contribute, the government will add 50c, up to a maximum of $500 (i.e. add $1,000 the government will add $500). As your income increases, the co-contribution rate decreases until your income is $57,016 when no co-contribution is made.
| If your personal contribution is: | $1000 | $500 |
| If your annual income is: | Your super co-contribution will be: | |
| Up to $42,016 | $500 | $250 |
| $45,016 | $400 | $250 |
| $48,016 | $300 | $250 |
| $51,016 | $200 | $200 |
| $54,016 | $100 | $100 |
| $57,016 (or more) | Nil | Nil |
At least 10% of your income needs to be from employment or business income.
In order to claim motor vehicle expenses against your salary income, you would need to prove that you have been travelling for work purposes.
The way to do this, is to keep a record or logbook of your travel for at least 12 weeks during the year. This record is valid for 5 years unless your travel pattern changes before then. This 12 week period should be representative of your regular work related travel pattern.
You should also record your odometer reading at 30 June 2023.
The percentage of work travel would be calculated from this record and applied to the total of your motor vehicle expenses and claimed as a deduction.
An alternative method where no log book is needed, is to simply claim up to a maximum of 5 000 km business travel, based on a reasonable estimate, using the cents per km method. The km claim must be based on diary notes or other documentation. For 2023, 78 cents per km can be claimed.
If you own investments such as shares or property, and you pay up to 12 months in advance of interest on a loan or other expenses before 30 June 2023, you will be able to claim these amounts in the 2023 tax year.
You may also prepay other expenses like property repairs, memberships, subscriptions or journals.
If you are unable to work as result of sickness or an accident, Income Protection Insurance will replace up to 75% of your salary. These premiums are tax deductible and protect your family’s lifestyle.
These premiums can also be prepaid for up to 12 months and claimed as a deduction in 2023.
Ensure you are able to calculate any gains or losses on Cryptocurrencies during the year.
Even if you have only made Capital losses, you still need to disclose these losses on your tax return.
Arrange for the contract date of sale of a Capital Gain asset to occur after 30 June 2023 as then the gain will fall into the 2024 tax year.
The contract date and not the settlement date is the key date for working out when a sale occurs.
