Private ruling: Car parking expenses
Published: February 2015
Ruling period: Year ended 30 June 2014 | Year ended 30 June 2015
Date scheme commenced: 1 July 2013

Ruling: Q1: Are you entitled to a deduction for your car parking expenses? | A1: No.

Relevant facts and circumstances: You are an employee. You require a large number of tools in your employment. You keep your tools in your vehicle as there is no safe place to store them at your workplace. You return to your vehicle during the day to access your tools. You park your car at a car park in the vicinity of your workplace for more than four hours per day.

Relevant legislative provisions: Income Tax Assessment Act 1997 Section 8-1. | Income Tax Assessment Act 1936 Section 51AGA. | Fringe Benefits Tax Assessment Act 1986 Section 136.

Reasons for decision: Summary: Section 8-1 of the Income Tax Assessment Act 1997 (ITAA 1997) allows a deduction for all losses and outgoings to the extent to which they are incurred in gaining or producing assessable income except where the outgoings are of a capital, private or domestic nature. Section 51AGA of the Income Tax Assessment Act 1936 specifically deals with the deductibility of car parking expenses and provides that a deduction will not be allowed to an employee for car parking expenses incurred on a particular day if, on that same day: • the employee has a primary place of employment • the car is parked for one or more daylight periods exceeding four hours in total at, or in the vicinity of, that primary place of employment • the expenditure is in respect of the provision of the car parking facilities, and • the car was used for travel between the place of residence and that primary place of employment. Section 136 of the Fringe Benefit Tax Assessment Act 1986 provides that primary place of employment means the employer's business premises, or associated premises, from which or at which the employee performs duties of his or her employment. This section also provides that daylight period means so much of a period of time as occurs between 7.00am and 7.00pm on the same day. All periods of parking between 7am and 7pm must be added together to determine whether the four-hour threshold is met. If employees regularly leave and return to their primary place of employment during a day, all the periods must be aggregated to determine whether the total duration of parking exceeds four hours on that day. Any part of a period outside 7am or 7pm will be ignored with only the time during those hours being counted. In your case, you drive your car from home to a car park in the vicinity of your worksite and park there for more than four hours per day. Consequently, you satisfy the conditions of section 51AGA of the ITAA 1936, and you are therefore prevented from claiming a deduction for the parking fees under section 8-1 of the ITAA 1997.