There were 1.1 million people claiming $1.5 billion in work-related travel expenses in 2017-18.
Ms Foat said a common problem was people trying to claim a travel expense such as meals and accommodation that they either had not incurred or for which they had already been reimbursed by their employer. She gave the example of blatantly dodgy claims in the past, where someone had claimed travel expenses for their wedding, which they tried to disguise as work-related. There were six million people claiming $1.5 billion in clothing expenses relating to their job in 2017-18.
Ms Foat said the ATO would be checking taxpayers who incorrectly claimed the exemption from keeping receipts for $150 on laundry expenses.
People believed that because they were required to wear black pants and white shirt for work, they can claim for that. “But they are not distinctive uniforms so they can’t claim for it,” she said. And she said if they are able to claim they need to have incurred the cost. “We saw an example where a doctor was claiming $150 for cost of washing his scrubs, but the hospital was washing the scrubs. So that was disallowed,” she said.
ABC News Report – Assistant Commissioner Karen Foat 28 June 2019
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