Dollar Saver tip #41
Save: $1,345
Tip overview:
It's tax time, and with the cost of living so high it has never been more important to claim any and all possible deductions you're entitled to.
With the removal of the The Low and Middle-Income Tax Offset, millions of Aussies will get a much smaller tax refund this year (and some people will even find themselves with a tax bill!).
Did you know?
A Finder survey found 23% of Aussies say this year's tax refund is 'very important' to their financial health, while a further 12% said it was 'critical'.
If you, like many Aussies, have worked from home at all in the past year you're entitled to claim a deduction of 67 cents per hour for all your additional home running costs.
This covers your additional electricity costs, mobile and internet expenses and office supplies. So you can't make a separate, additional claim for these things.
As an example, let's look at how this method works for me.
I've worked from home full time this past year. After removing weekends and 9 public holidays, I've spent 251 days working from home.
At 8 hours a day, that's 2,008 hours. I can claim 67 cents for each of these hours, which works out to be a deduction of $1,345.36
Even if you've only worked from home 1 day a week this year, that's still a deduction of $278.72.
And you can make your tax refund go even further by putting the money in a high interest savings account or a term deposit.