Yesterday we went into the tax office in Mackay. We needed to do our Tax for the end of the financial year. Normally David does it with the Tax Pack online but this year we decided that we needed to know more about how to claim our tax while Travelling Around Australia.
How To Claim the Most Tax
Another lady in the caravan park we are staying in recommended Ban Tacs and highly recommended Tanya Read. Now before I go any further I would like to point out that we (David and I/New Life on the Road) are NOT tax experts nor do we have any qualifications regards the laws of tax. If you would like to know the in’s and out’s of how the Australian Tax will work for your benefit then you need to make your own appointment with a tax office.
Now that the legal stuff is out of the way….let me share our exciting news!
David wanted to set up a business. He has always wanted to be his own boss. Yet I didn’t know how it was going to work out while we planned to Travel to Western Australia. The beauty of what David has been doing (going from Job to Job) works way better for our family.
During our appointment we had our Tax worked out as well as our many questions answered.
Here is What We Found Will Apply To Us While Travelling Around Australia
- Keep going with David earning a wage rather than working out how to set up our own company
- David MUST find two consecutive Jobs to go to. So from Mackay he needs to find the next two jobs waiting for him. Which will be easy because as he has so many skills…. he picks up work with only a few emails/phone calls.
- Which means that when we head from Mackay to Theresa Creek Dam (we hope to spend a week there for R and R) that it’s a personal expense and we can’t claim the trip
- If he was to pick up work out at Clermont BEFORE we leave Mackay then we can start to keep our records (every single receipt) of our travelling expenses
- From Clermont to the Sunshine Coast – we hope he will be able to line up work on the Sunshine Coast. For a couple of weeks. That way we again can claim all of our travelling expenses.
- From the Sunshine Coast to Sydney – he hopes to grab a few weeks work there before we head over to South Australia/Western Australia.
What Can We Claim ::
For us to claim ALL travelling expenses David must have two jobs lined up :: ie one at Clermont and one on the Sunshine Coast. Or one at the Sunshine Coast and one in Sydney!
- Petrol for the work car as well as diesel for our Motorhome
- Insurance for our Motorhome
- Any necessary repairs needed on the Motorhome
- All food expenses (yep we claim our groceries)
- Work Clothes, carrying tools to and from work, and meal allowances
- Caravan Park site fees
- Anything and everything that relates to moving from one area to another area!
What I Must Do ::
I must keep a Date of when David starts the new job, the employer details, and all (expenses) receipts that relate to the job date. We must also have letters/emails to say that David has the job and the start date before we leave one area.
I must keep a log book for the Car and one for the Motorhome. Where we write in Dates and how far we have travelled each time.(every single time we go anywhere we must keep records!)
I must keep a spreadsheets with Dates/Names and then all expenses written into the job area.
I must keep all receipts of anything that we purchase. Be it for food, even a cup of coffee while David is working, petrol, clothes, washing (yep if we used a laundry facility then I must have a receipt to be able to claim it)…basically our day-to-day living must be kept with receipts/records and then emailed to our preferred Tax Office.
Good Tax Returns While Travelling
We had the most refund this year than we have ever had. Be interesting to see what we get back next year while we are Travelling Around Australia.
Oh and that reminds me – we must not stay long than six months in any area, and we must not claim rent assistance from Centrelink!
So basically the more we travel, the more we see, the more jobs David has lined up the better it is for our Tax Return.
Hope that I have shared everything that we found out yesterday while speaking with Tanya!
Important Details ::
Location and Mailing Address:
34 Wellington Street
Mackay Qld, 4740
Contact:
Phone: (07) 4957 8340
Mobile: 0417 770 438
Fax: (07) 4957 5499
E-mail: mackay@bantacs.com.au
Want To Find Out More?
Ban Tacs Accounts has a Travelling Workers information Page. Want to find out where jobs are advertised for Travelling Around Australia? At our appointment Tanya shared Work About Australia (which we have checked out before but never really looked into it!!) information which we are now seriously going to look into.
Travelling Around Australia? It is now even more possible after hearing about how much living/travelling/insurance/registrations expenses we can claim.
Would You Like To Travel Around Australia and Claim Everything?
Cheers
Lisa
New Life on the Road
** PLEASE NOTE ** We (David and I from New Life on the Road) do not have any tax advice to offer you. Nor do we claim to know all of the tax rules/regulations. You must seek out your own advice and find out what applies to you/your family and your travelling situation. We are only sharing what we have found out to help with us to continue with Travelling Around Australia.
Well – who would have thought this would be the case. I am sure glad you went to the tax agent and found out all this stuff. It will be so helpful for a lot of people. Exciting!
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Hi Jan,
It was amazing what we found out! never ever in my wildless dreams would I have thought we could claim so much at the end of the finanical year 🙂
I hope other Travellers around Australia also benefit from seeing a tax specialist who helps travellers.
Cheers
Lisa
This was super helpful advice for me! I’ve established myself as a small business owner in the States, but I’m looking to move to Australia and I wasn’t sure what to keep track of for my records. Thank you!
Your Welcome Anna 🙂
Very interesting post; thanks for the information. I will be looking into this!
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Your welcome 🙂
More we travel,more we see is a great tip that article represents about tax return or claiming tax.Very informative article much interesting in reading.
Thank you so much for sharing!
thanks Alice 🙂