Tax Tips in 2009

29 June, 2009

Are you Single and going to earn more than $70,000 this year?

If you expect to earn more than $70,000 for the tax year July 2008-June 2009, and you will be claiming single, it would be in your best interest to take out a basic private health insurance plan. This should be done with an excess of $500 or less, or your Medicare levy will rise from 1.5% to 2.5%.

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Self-Education Expenses

You may claim self education expenses for any courses that have sufficient connection to your employment. This includes, tuition, fees, computer, books, supplies, etc. The education must be for the purpose of improving the specific skills or knowledge or is at least likely to increase your income at your current workplace. Lastly any single items valued at more than $300 (e.g. laptop) should be depreciated (see below).

Depreciation of items valued greater than $300

Items used for work or education purposes that are valued at more than $300 should be deducted by depreciation. Our site will calculate the deduction for you whether you use the diminishing value method or the prime cost method. The diminishing value method is most popular since it gives you the greatest deduction in the first year.

Tax Deduction on Donations

Be sure that any donations you make throughout the tax year are to a qualifying charity recognized by the ATO, or commonly known as a Deductible Gift Recipient (DGRs), so that you may safely claim a deduction for the donated amount or value.

Only gifts made to DGRs are tax deductible. There are several ways to check if the organisation is an endorsed DGR:

Online: http://www.abn.business.gov.au/

Phone: 13 28 61

The following are some examples of different gift types that are deductible:
• $2 or more - money
• property < 12 mths - property purchased during the 12 months before the gift was made
• shares = $5,000 - listed shares valued at $5,000 or less, and acquired at least 12 months before the gift was made
• trading stock - trading stock disposed of outside the ordinary course of business
• cultural gifts - property under the Cultural Gift Program
• heritage gifts - places included in the National Heritage List, the Commonwealth Heritage List or the Register of the National Estate.

For more information, please visit the ATO's Website