As businesses begin the task of relocating workers to home-based offices amid COVID-19, accountants are preparing for a difficult few months ahead.
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Andrew Morrison, director of Wagga's Paisley Robertson Accounting has one key message for anyone who suddenly finds themselves working from home: Keep your receipts.
"It's all about documentation," he said.
"Keep your receipts as per any other year."
In recognition of the situation many will find themselves in this year, the Australian Tax Office (ATO) has updated its conditions ahead of this year's tax season.
Among the updated regulations is the "shortcut method", which will allow workers to claim 80 cents per hour on their running expenses. Previously, the bar had been set at 52 cents to the hour.
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Alternatively, workers are able to claim the "fixed rate method", which will allows for a 52 cents per work hour on heating, cooling, lighting, cleaning, and the decline in value of office furniture.
It also provides for work-related costs to phones, internet, computers, stationery purchases and the decline in value of work-related devices.
"Keep a diary of your hours," Mr Morrison said.
"That can be electronic or paper-based but make sure to document the hours you're working from home."
Business-based purchases under $300 can be deducted outright. Meanwhile, items costing over $300 will be depreciation deductions over the term of its useful life.
Mr Morrison expects the ATO will be particularly stringent on returns this year, and has therefore warned against taking liberties with claims.
"You cannot claim things like your tea, coffee or milk, things that you would normally get from your employer, but you'd probably be buying for yourself anyway," Mr Morrison said.
"It's hard to claim if it's personal, and with everything, it has to be fair and reasonable.
"You also can't claim on your occupancy expenses, so your mortgage, rent or rates."
He also warns against embellishing costs, with the ATO likely to crackdown hard.
"I think there's a lot of means to check these days," he said.
"They [the ATO] can work out what's the average cost for heating and cooling [for example] and if you're making big claims you'll probably end up with an audit."
But above all else, in preparation for the next few months of isolation working, Mr Morrison's advice is simple: "Keep your receipts, check with your accountant".
"It pays to see your accountant so that you can claim everything you're entitled to," he said.