JS Felman and Associates

The following information is a guide to assist you with your claims for the year ended 2010.
Listed below, is more information relating to your claims for deductions, receipts for deductions, car claims, log books and car record keeping.

TAX SAVING STRATEGIES PRIOR TO 1ST JULY 2010
Accelerating tax claims
As personal income tax rates are set to decrease from 1 July 2010, there may be an additional advantage to be had by accelerating any income tax deductions into the current income year.
The tax rates for resident individual taxpayers for the 2009/2010 income year are as follows:
Income threshold Tax payable
0 – $6,000 Nil
$6,001 – $35,000 Nil + 15% on excess over $6,000
$35,001 – $80,000 $4,350 + 30% of excess over $35,000
$80,001 – $180,000 $17,850 + 38% on excess over $80,000
$180,001 and over $55,850 + 45% on excess over $180,000
Note: The Medicare levy is in addition to these rates.

COMMON WORK RELATED CLAIMS MADE BY INDIVIDUALS

The following outlines common types of deductible expenses claimed by individual taxpayers, such as employees and rental property owners, plus some strategies that can be adopted to increase deductions for the 2009/2010 income year.

1. Depreciable plant, etc, costing $300 or less
Salary and wage earners and rental property owners will generally be entitled to an immediate deduction if plant costing $300 or less is purchased before 1 July 2010.
Some purchases you may consider include:
fax machines;
beepers and pagers;
books and trade journals;
briefcases/luggage or suitcases;
calculators, electronic organisers;
software;
stationery;
tools of trade.

2. Clothing expenses
Purchase or pay for work-related clothing expenses prior to the end of the income year,
such as:
Compulsory (or non-compulsory and registered) uniforms, and occupation specific and
protective clothing;
Other expenses associated with such work-related clothing such as dry cleaning, laundry and
repair expenses.

3. Self education expenses
Consider pre-paying the following self education items before the end of the income year:
course fees (but not HECS-HELP fees), student union fees, and tutorial fees;
interest on borrowings used to pay for any deductible self education expenses.

Also bring forward purchases of stationery and text books (i.e., those which are not required to be depreciated).

4. Other work-related expenses
Employees can prepay any of the following expenses prior to 1 July 2010:
union fees;
subscriptions to trade, professional or business associations;
magazine and newspaper subscriptions;
seminars and conferences;
income protection insurance (excluding death and total/permanent disability).
Note: When prepaying any of the expenses above before 1 July 2010, ensure that any services are to be provided within a 12 month period that ends before 1 July 2011. Otherwise, the deductions must be claimed over the period of the prepayment.

INFORMATION REQUIRED
We will need you to bring information to assist us in preparing your income tax return.
Please check the following and bring along payment summaries, statements, accounts, receipts, etc., to help us prepare the return:

Income/Receipts
Payment summaries for salary and wages;
Lump sum and termination payments;
Government pensions and allowances;
Other pensions and/or annuities;
Allowances (e.g., entertainment, car, tools);
Interest, rent and dividends;
Distributions from partnerships or trusts;
Details of any assets sold that were either used for income earning purposes or which may
be caught by capital gains tax.

Deductions (in addition to those mentioned above):
Award transport allowance claims;
Bank and government charges on deposits of income, and deductible expenditure;
Bridge/road tolls (travelling on business);
Car parking (when travelling on business);
Conventions, conferences and seminars;
Depreciation of library, tools, business equipment, incl. portion of home computer;
gifts or donations;
Home office running expenses including:
cleaning
cooling and heating
depreciation of office furniture
lighting
telephone;
Interest and dividend deductions including:
account keeping fees
ongoing management fees
interest on borrowings to acquire shares
advice relating to changing investments (but not setting them up);
Interest on loans to purchase equipment or income earning investments;
Motor vehicle expenses (business/work related);
Overtime meal allowances;
Rental property expenses – including:
advertising expenses
council/water rates
insurance
interest
land tax
legal expenses/management fees
genuine repairs and maintenance
telephone expenses
travelling to inspect property;
Superannuation contributions by sole traders or substantially unsupported taxpayers;
Sun protection items;
Tax agent fees;
Telephone expenses (business);
Tools of trade.

A GUIDE FOR 2009/2010 YEAR END CHECKLIST FOR BUSINESS CLIENTS IS ALSO AVAILABLE IN OUR NEWSLETTER ISSUE SECTION.