With just a few days to go until the end of the financial year, it is time to start thinking about tax.
The Australian Tax Office is targeting a number of areas, including vehicle and investment-property claims.
And it is warning those profiting from the sharing economy -- like AirBnB hosts and Uber drivers -- to declare their income.
Mark Aliprandi has been an Uber driver in Sydney for nearly three years.
"It's a pleasant way to earn a living, and it fits in with and adds on to anything else you're doing with your career. You can slide it in whenever you need money to fund something that you want to fund - it's perfect for that."
Anything Mr Aliprandi earns, though, is considered income.
He says it needs to be declared to the tax office.
"I'm going to collate all my expenses. I'm going to use an accountant, because they know exactly how to deal with, things like ... income-wise, depreciation is a thing I don't have a great deal of knowledge about."
Assistant tax commissioner Kath Anderson says the Australian Taxation Office will be focusing its efforts on the rising popularity of the sharing economy this tax time.
"We are looking at people who are Uber drivers, all the way through to people who might be providing accommodation at their house or might be doing a task for someone through something like Airtasker."
With more cars on the road, and more investment properties being built, the tax office is taking even more notice.
It has three golden rules for deductions:
One, you must have paid the expense.
Two, it has to relate to earning your income.
Three, you have to have a record to prove it.
An accountant at the 5ways Group, Paul Meissner says having a record does not always have to mean having a receipt, though.
"If you don't have a receipt, don't always think that's the end. Sometimes, if you review bank statements, or your credit-card statements in certain circumstances that can have enough information to still claim a deduction."
The tax office's Kath Anderson says there are common misconceptions, though, like claiming a standard deduction.
"You can't claim a 'standard deduction'. So, for some reason, people seem to confuse the fact that, if your deduction is under a certain amount, you might not have to provide as much evidence of your spending. But the rule still stands that you can't claim it if you didn't actually pay for it. So that's one of the big misconceptions. Another misconception is that you can claim everyday work clothes like black pants and a white shirt, something like that. You can't claim it unless it is a uniform or protective clothing or a distinctive type of clothing, like chefs' pants."
Paul Meissner says that does not mean you cannot -- or should not -- ask your accountant to maximise your return.
"The biggest mistake I see for individuals is not asking your accountant whether something is deductible. You can't claim anything you don't at least inquire about. Small business, the biggest mistake I see is not checking their personal bank statements. Oftentimes, there is a business deduction or a business expense that they paid for personally. You don't want to miss out on those deductions."
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