bcworld

Well that was why I asked? Because my reading of the judgement was that if you wanted to make a substantial claim e.g say $46 a day - then be prepared to be asked to back that up with some evidence.

spalen

There is no evidence requirement as long as it's under the per diem limit

annn

I have read this over and over again, also the original thread I am completely lost (not unusual) Have read the ATO stuff and just got even more confused.....

My OH travels quite a bit infact he's away right now, can someone please please explain how this works for him?

Employer books and pays for accommodation and flights.
Food is paid for on company credit card for up to a max of $60.00.

The way i read it is that because he does not actually get handed the $60.00, he can't claim anything. He has been doing this for 4 years and never claimed a thing.

Thanks

spalen

You are incorrect - he is allowed to have this tax deduction.

The government allows him to spend (and therefore claim) up to XXX$ per night on incidentals and food (Eg : India is 315$ or something) . He does not have to keep receipts, and he does not have to prove what he spent, he just needs to keep records to show he was in india.

So you work out what it is like this

INDIA 1 Night = 315$ allowance, deduct 60$ employer paid leaves 255$

You claim a deduction of 255$ , and you get XX% of 255$ back at your marginal rate, so if he's top tax bracket at 45% it would be 45% of 255 = 114$ Per Night.

annn

Thanks, I just have to find a tax accountant and trawl through everything to work out when he was away now

It will make a change for him to get some tax back.

Thanks again

spalen

My expense team at work send me a file of my expenses and i just look through for the Perdiem items.

If he flies a frequent flyer - they'll have a list of all his flights too.

Good luck -its worth it - I use H+R Block, send them the ATO ruling, and the way to calculate it and they do it for me. To re-open /adjust your prior year submissions you will have to pay a little maybe 50 or 100$ per year I think to submit an adjustment for each year.