Want to claim WFH on your tax return? You’ll need to act now

As we head towards the last month of the financial year, this is your last opportunity to create the diary records you will need to meet the substantiation requirements for different types of work deductions. Here’s what you need to know for the most common claims.

As we head towards the last month of the financial year, time is running out to get on top of your work deductions.Credit: Dominic Lorrimer

Travel allowance

Even if you are relying on the reasonable allowance amounts, you should keep a copy of all receipts for at least one month, supported by bank statements, plus a record of the times you ate the meal, which must be within normal meal times.

For the whole year you must record the number of days you travelled, including the time you left and arrived back home. Truck drivers can use their logbook and are allowed to eat at irregular times. You must receive a travel allowance from your employer to qualify for this “concession”.

If this all seems more trouble than just keeping receipts for the whole year, I think you are right. Just keep receipts and prove you were required to sleep away from home for work is all you have to do if you don’t utilise the reasonable travel allowance concessions.

Overtime meal allowance

This has been clawed back considerably. Now you have to be able to consume the meal while working overtime, it is not sufficient to buy something on your way home. Keep a representative sample of your expenditure for a month.

To avoid the substantiation requirements for overtime meal and travel allowances, ask your employer not to include these allowances on you PAYG summary. They can do this if they believe the allowance has been fully expended and it is under the reasonable amount stated in the ATO ruling for that year.

If you claim the 70¢ flat-rate WFH deduction, you can’t make other separate WFH claims.Credit: Getty Images

Working from home

The flat-rate working-from-home allowance has been increased to 70 cents per hour for the 2024-2025 financial year. If you choose to claim under this method, you cannot make a separate claim for home office stationery, electricity, internet, mobile and home phone, though you can still claim for equipment such as laptops, printers and furniture.

Your mobile calls alone may be a bigger deduction. It may already be too late to keep the appropriate records to claim the per-hour method. You need a record of hours worked for the whole year, not just a representative sample. Do you have timesheets?

Alternatively, consider claiming these expenses individually by keeping receipts and a diary for one month to show the ratio of work to private use. If you are living with other people, forget about trying to keep a diary for internet use – all their use has to be recorded as well.

Your mobile is easy enough; just screenshot a month of recent calls, print and mark whether private or work. For laptops, printers and furniture, record the hours for private use and for work use over a month.

Electricity can be calculated by turning everything else off in the house except the office and looking at the meter and your bill for the cost per kilowatt-hour.

Car logbook

You need to keep one for three months every five years. Just make sure you start it before the end of the financial year, even if it finishes next financial year.

You will need to keep receipts for all expenses associated with the vehicle, and take the speedo reading every June 30. You can avoid having to keep fuel receipts if you do a fuel test by filling up the vehicle and recording the speedo reading, then the next time you fill up again, record the speedo reading and keep the fuel receipt.

This together with the speedo reading each June 30 will allow you to calculate the cost of fuel for the year.

Kilometre method

You can claim up to 5000 kilometres, at 88 cents a kilometre, per vehicle per owner of the vehicle by using a detailed reasonable estimate. Keep a record of regular travel for work purposes for a month, plus a diary entry for one-off trips over the year.

Julia Hartman founded BAN TACS Accountants more than 30 years ago and is still passionate about all things tax.

• Advice given in this article is general in nature and is not intended to influence readers’ decisions about investing or financial products. They should always seek their own professional advice that takes into account their own personal circumstances before making any financial decisions.

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