Educators encouraged to keep solid records and maximise legal deductions for tax time

Early childhood education and care (ECEC) professionals are an important part of the Australian workforce, TaxFox tax expert Andrew Chia said, however they “sometimes appear to overlook essential deductions which form part of their day to day roles”.

In order to support the broader sector to maximise their legal deductions, Mr Chia has prepared a “round up” for readers of The Sector which includes five categories of eligible deductions for the education sector more broadly: 

1. General sun protection clothing and gear, such as a hat, and sunscreen;
2. Union fees and membership fees as part of their association;
3. Working from home expenses which may include electricity and/or internet expenses
4. Extra curricular activities which are part of paid employment and which would also mean that additional travel may be required so a claim for a motor vehicle expenses may arise; and,
5. Additional materials purchased as part of their role for a subject or for use with children would also be deductible

TaxFox is a personal finance app which is dedicated to maximising refunds and allows users to record expenses, store receipts, log work-from-home hours, and calculate tax refund estimates in real-time as users add new deductions. Please note that the advice provided by both Mr Chia and TaxFox is general in nature. Prior to implementing any of the suggestions provided, readers should seek input from their preferred financial professional to ensure the advice given is right for their circumstances. 

Eligible deduction suggestions and tips

• Keep receipts for all deductions claimed – this can be done electronically with photos 

• Record the amount of time spent working from home 

• Remember that when working from home, a space should be a dedicated workspace, otherwise a prorated calculation needs to be used

• For vehicle and travel expenses use a log book, app, or use the cents per km methodology

• Remember that travel to and from work from your place of residence is not considered as work travel

• There may be additional travel related expenses, such as parking and tolls to be claimed.

For more information about tax deductions in early childhood education and care, please see here.