2022 Tax Time– The ATO’s Key Focus Areas

It is that time of the year again!

To ensure a smooth process when lodging your 2022 tax, it is essential that you check everything is in order through robust record-keeping.

Whilst all aspects are important in relation to correctly declaring your income and expenses, the ATO have announced four key focus areas for this upcoming Tax Time:

Work-Related Expenses

The ATO is narrowing down on taxpayers with hybrid/working-from-home arrangements (which have become more prevalent since the start of the Covid-19 pandemic). For taxpayers continuing to work-from-home, the ATO expects a correlating reduction in the amount of car, clothing, and other work-related expenses such as parking and tolls.

A taxpayer may still incur these expenses, but it is important to check and update your records due to changed working arrangements. For example, if the usage pattern of a car for work-related purposes has changed since the pandemic, it would be appropriate to maintain a new, valid and updated logbook.

Tax tip: For your record-keeping and all work-related expenses, remember these three guidelines for claiming deductions:
1. You must have spent the money and not been reimbursed.
2. If the expense is used for a mix of income-producing and private use, you can only claim the portion that relates to producing income.
3. You must have a record to prove the deduction.

Rental Property Income and Deductions

This is a yearly reminder for rental property owners to include all income sources from your rental property, including any short-term rental arrangements, insurance payouts, and rental bond claims. Don’t forget, if the property is not genuinely available for rent for the entire period, then some expense claims may have to be apportioned and/or may not be tax deductible.

Tax tip: It is a good idea to engage a registered tax agent to help ensure you are correctly declaring all rental income and claiming all eligible rental expenses. WSC Group are specialists in rental property claims and are here to help.

Capital Gains from Cryptocurrency Assets, Property, and Shares

The ATO has sophisticated data-collection processes and are actively matching taxpayers’ activity on cryptocurrency, including non-fungible tokens (NFTs).

This is an important reminder that you will need to include all transactions of these asset-classes in your tax. Depending on your own circumstances, you will need to calculate the capital gain or capital loss, or the business net profit/loss from active trading activity.

Tax tip: Cryptocurrency is an ever-growing area and considering its tax treatment can be complex – it is recommended to speak to a professional for taxation advice tailored to your personal circumstances.

As we near the 2022 Tax Time, please don’t hesitate to reach out to our offices on 1300 365 125 or email us at [email protected] to book in an appointment.

The material and contents provided in this publication are informative in nature only. It is not intended to be advice and you should not act specifically on the basis of this information alone. If expert assistance is required, professional advice should be obtained.

References:

1.https://www.ato.gov.au/Media-centre/Media-releases/Four-priorities-for-the-ATO-this-tax-time/ 2.KnowledgeShop May 2022 round-up