Private ruling: Federal election expenses
Date of advice: 27 August 2019
Published: October 2019
Ruling period: Year ending 30 June 20XX
Date scheme commenced: 1 July 20XX

Ruling: Q1: Are you eligible to claim a deduction for expenditure you incurred in contesting a Federal election? | A1: Yes Paragraph 25-60(1)(a) of the Income Tax Assessment Act 1997 (ITAA 1997) allows you to deduct expenditure you incur in contesting an election for membership of the parliament of the Commonwealth. Unlike the general deduction provisions of section 8-1 of the ITAA 1997, section 25-60 of the ITAA 1997 does not specifically state that the loss or outgoing must be incurred in gaining or producing your assessable income. However, for a deduction to be allowable the expenditure must be 'incurred in contesting an election' and it must be of a type that a Member would incur to further his or her chances of being elected to a Parliament. Accordingly, you are entitled to a deduction under section 25-60 of the ITAA 1997.

Relevant facts and circumstances: You contested a seat in an Australian Federal election as a candidate. You were not the sitting member, nor did you win the seat. You derived no assessable income from the activities. You incurred certain expenses during the campaign.

Relevant legislative provisions: Income Tax Assessment Act 1997 Section 25-60