If you work as a cleaner, here is a checklist of the tax deductions you may be able to claim on your personal tax return.

Work-Related Car Expenses Specific to Cleaners

Our experience with cleaners is they often, if not always, use their private car for work. In many cases, those work-related car expenses are an allowable deduction.

Transport or car expenses include public transport fares and the running costs associated with motor vehicles, motorcycles, bicycles, etc., for work-related travel. Following is a brief checklist of car expenses specifically for cleaners.

• Travel between home and work – A deduction is not allowable for the cost of travel between home and the normal workplace as it is generally considered to be a private expense. This principle is not altered by the performance of incidental tasks en route.

• Travel between home and work – transporting bulky equipment – A deduction is allowable if the transport expenses can be attributed to the transportation of bulky equipment rather than to private travel between home and work. A deduction is not allowable if the equipment is transported to and from work by the cleaner as a matter of convenience. A deduction is not allowable if a secure area for equipment storage is provided at the workplace.

• Travel between home and work where home is a base of operations and work is commenced at home. A deduction is allowable for transport expenses if they can be attributed to traveling on work, as distinct from traveling to work, i.e., where the cleaner’s home is used as a base of operations. His or her work has commenced before leaving home.

• Travel between home and shifting places of work – A deduction is allowable for the transport expenses incurred in traveling between home and shifting places of work, where the cleaner is required by the nature of the job itself to do the job in more than one place. The mere fact that a cleaner may choose to do part of the job in a place separate from that where the job is located is not enough.

• Travel between two separate workplaces if there are two separate employers involved – A deduction is allowable for the cost of traveling directly between two places of employment.

• Travel from the normal workplace to an alternate workplace while still on duty and back to the normal workplace or directly home. A deduction is allowable for the cost of travel from the normal workplace to other workplaces. A deduction is also allowable for the cost of travel from the alternate workplace back to the normal workplace or directly home. This travel is undertaken in the course of gaining assessable income and is an allowable deduction.

• Travel from home to an alternate workplace for work-related purposes and then to the normal workplace or directly home. A deduction is allowable for the cost of travel from home to an alternate workplace and then on to the normal workplace or directly home.

• Travel between two places of employment or between a place of employment and a place of business – A deduction is allowable for the cost of travel directly between two places of employment or a place of employment and a place of business, provided that the travel is undertaken to carry out income-earning activities.

1. Travel in connection with self-education – See Self-education.

Meals and Travel  

• The cost of buying overtime meals when you work overtime provided your employer has paid you an allowance. Providing the deduction for overtime meals does not exceed the ATO’s reasonable allowance. Substantiation is not required – for the current rate see Claiming Overtime Meal Allowance.

• The cost of meals and incidental expenses when you are required to stay away from home overnight for work (if you receive an allowance from your employer, you can claim the full amount of that allowance provided it is shown on your PAYG payment summary). If you didn’t receive an allowance, you should keep receipts to prove the amount you have spent on all meals and accommodation.

• The cost of parking, tolls, taxis, and public transport if you are required to travel to attend seminars, meetings, and training courses not held at your usual place of work (if you need to stay away overnight you can also claim for the cost of all meals and your accommodation).

• The cost of bridge and road tolls paid while driving between your depot and your client’s depot (but NOT while driving to and from work)

• The cost of using your own car for work, including travel to attend meetings, attend training courses, pick up supplies, and driving between or around job sites (to claim for car costs it is usually best to keep a diary record of the number of kilometers you travel during the year for work purposes and then we can calculate the amount of your tax deduction at the end of the year)  – see Claiming Work-Related Car Expenses.

• You can claim the cost of using your own car to travel to and from work, BUT only if you are required to carry bulky tools and equipment for your work AND there is no secure area to leave these items on-site overnight.

Work Clothing  

A deduction is allowable for the cost of buying, renting, or replacing clothing, uniforms, and footwear (‘clothing’) if:

• the clothing is protective in nature

• the clothing is occupation-specific and not conventional in nature

• the clothing is a compulsory uniform and satisfies the requirements of Taxation Ruling IT 2641 – for example corporate wardrobe

• expenditure on shoes, socks, and stockings is considered of a private nature. Even when these items are worn at the employer’s request, their cost will only be deductible in limited circumstances. To qualify for a deduction, the items must firstly form an integral part of a distinctive and compulsory uniform the components of which are set out by the employer in its expressed uniform policy or guidelines. In addition, the employer’s uniform policy or guidelines should stipulate the characteristics of the shoes, socks, and stockings that qualify them as being a distinctive part of the compulsory uniform, e.g., colour, style, type, etc. The wearing of the uniform must also be strictly and consistently enforced, with breaches of the uniform policy giving rise to disciplinary action. In strict compulsory uniform regimes, expenditure on shoes, socks, and stockings is likely to be regarded as work-related rather than private. In nature

• t, the clothing is a non-compulsory uniform or wardrobe that has been entered on the Register of Approved Occupational Clothing of the TCFDA. You can obtain Details of registered corporate wardrobes can be obtained either from your employer or from the Department of Industry directly on 03 9268 7944. NOTE, there is no longer a public register available on the web. See our post on Non-compulsory Corporate Uniform for additional information.

• A deduction is allowable for the cost of cleaning, laundry, and maintaining clothing that falls into one or more of the categories of deductible clothing above.

• The cost of buying other personal protection equipment (PPE) that is not supplied by your employer (including overalls, gloves, goggles, masks, steel-capped boots, high visibility vests, and winter outdoor jackets)

Training

• The cost of work-related short training courses (for example first aid, OH&S, truck and heavy equipment driving, vehicle maintenance) that are not run by a University or TAFE. You can claim for the cost of any course fees, books, stationery, Internet connection, telephone calls, tools or equipment, and traveling to and from the course. You can also claim any accommodation and meal expenses you have to pay if you are required to stay away overnight for your course.

• The cost of self-education courses run by a University (not including HECS/HELP fees) or TAFE that directly relate to your current work. If you are studying, you can also claim the cost of books, stationery, equipment and travel required for your course.

Work Tools and Equipment  

• The cost of buying and repairing equipment you use at work (including tools, CB radio, portable refrigerator, sleeping bag, electronic organizers, laptop computers, and mobile phones)

• The cost of any repairs to your employer’s vehicle, maintenance, spillage, or cleaning (provided your employer does not reimburse you for these costs)

• The cost of any materials or supplies that you buy for use at work (for example, safety gear, first aid equipment, backpack, or belt bag)

Reimbursements

If an employee teacher receives a payment from his or her employer for actual expenses incurred, the payment is reimbursement, and the employer may be subject to Fringe Benefits Tax. Generally, if an employee teacher receives a reimbursement, the amount is not required to be included in his or her assessable income, and a deduction is not allowable (see Taxation Ruling TR 92/15).

However, if an employer reimburses motor vehicle expenses on a cents per kilometer basis, the amount is included as assessable income of the employee teacher. A deduction may be allowable for the actual expenses incurred.

If the reimbursement by an employer is for the cost of a depreciable item (e.g., tools and equipment), a deduction is allowable to the employee teacher for depreciation.

If a payment is received from an employer for an estimated expense, the amount received by the employee teacher is considered to be an allowance (not a reimbursement) and is fully assessable to the employee teacher.

Other Work Expenses 

• The cost of cleaning materials used for your work