Tax

Be careful what deductions you claim when filling out your 2010-11 tax return, the tax office is cracking down. The ATO is targeting earthmovers, flight attendants, carpenters and real estate employees this year.

The ATO says these people have a higher risk of getting their work-related expense claims wrong. They often don’t have the right documentation to support motor vehicle and travel expenses and incorrectly claim motor vehicle expenses for carrying bulky equipment. Mistakes are also made when claiming home office, mobile phone and internet expenses.

The tax office isn’t trying to entrap tradesmen, flight attendants and real estate employees… it’s trying to warn (or maybe scare) them to fill in their returns correctly. The ATO is writing to 116,000 people working in these professions to tell them about new tax guides for these occupations to help them get their claims right this time.

It’s no surprise the tax office is cracking down on deductions. Over eight million Australians claim around $16 billion in work-related expenses every year. That’s a lot of tax revenue it’s missing out on.