Private ruling: Work related expenses
Published: February 2013
Ruling period: Year ended 30 June 2012
Date scheme commenced: 1 July 2011

Ruling: Q1: Are you entitled to claim work related expenses including travel accommodation and meals for your overseas trip? | A1: Yes.

Relevant facts and circumstances: You are an adviser. The purpose of your project was to mentor teachers and understand community structure. Your roles were to visit providers throughout every region and advise them on best practice to facilitate educational project outcomes. In particular, your focus was supporting teachers of specific students to enable better education of these students. The purpose of your overseas trip was to gain a wider perspective surrounding the difficulties in educating the specific students. You sent letters to many schools in overseas locations where there were high number of specific students, and when responses were received your full trip itinerary was prepared and finalised. You observed in various classrooms of a number of other schools and presented a power point presentation and Australian literature to them. You also interviewed the principal of each school visited to enquire about how they engaged the local community and encourage attendance. This format of meeting and activities was carried through to each school you visited throughout the trip.

Relevant legislative provisions: Income tax Assessment Act 1997 Section 8-1.

Reasons for decision: Summary: A deduction is allowable under section 8-1 of the Income Tax Assessment Act 1997 (ITAA 1997) to the extent to which they are incurred in gaining or producing assessable income and they are not private, domestic or capital in nature. The Commissioner's view on the deductibility of employee teacher's work related expenses is set out in Taxation Ruling TR 95/14. The deductibility of the expenses incurred in undertaking travel will depend on the specific circumstances of each case. Some factors that would be considered in determining the relevance of these trips to an employee teacher's employment would include the purpose of the trip, the activities undertaken, and the duties of the employee while on the trip. The purpose of the trip and the activities undertaken should have an educational benefit and be related to the curriculum or syllabus of the school. In your case, the purpose of your overseas trip was to gain a wider perspective surrounding the difficulties in specific education. You pre-arranged and visited a number of schools during your travel and conducted the same program of presentation, observation and interview at each school. Therefore, your overseas travel expenses are considered to have been incurred in earning your assessable income, and provided the substantiation requirements are satisfied, are deductible under section 8-1 of the ITAA 1997.

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