Private ruling: Accommodation and meals
Published: December 2013
Ruling period: Year ended 30 June 2013
Date scheme commenced: 1 July 2012

Ruling: Q1: Are you entitled to a deduction for accommodation expenses? | A1: No. | Q2: Are you entitled to a deduction for meal expenses when you are away from the accommodation on overnight trips? | A2: Yes. | Q3: Are you entitled to a deduction for meal expenses when you are not on overnight trips? | A3: No.


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

Reasons for decision: Summary: Section 8-1 of the Income Tax Assessment Act 1997 allows a deduction for all outgoings to the extent to which they are incurred in gaining or producing assessable income, or are necessarily incurred in carrying on a business for that purpose. However, a deduction is not allowable for outgoings that are of a capital, private or domestic nature. Generally, accommodation and meal expenses are private in nature and are not deductible. However, in Lunney v. FC of T (1958) 100 CLR 478 the Full High Court laid down the principle that for a deduction to be allowable it is not enough for the expenditure to be an essential prerequisite to the derivation of assessable income. In that case it was held that the costs incurred by a taxpayer in travelling to the place where they work are expenses incurred in order to enable them to earn income but are not expenses incurred in the course of earning that income. The issue of expenses incurred in relation to accommodation near the work place while maintaining a family residence in another location was considered in FC of T v. Toms 89 ATC 4373; (1989) 20 ATR 466 ( Toms' Case ). In Toms' Case , the taxpayer was a forest worker who during the working week lived in a caravan in a bush camp 108 kilometres from his family home in Grafton. He claimed it was too far to travel each day to his work in the forest, so that it was necessary to establish a caravan at the camp. He would return home on weekends. He claimed the costs of maintaining his caravan and other living expenses such as the cost of heating and lighting. The Federal Court considered that the caravan was rendered necessary as much by the taxpayer's choice of the place of his residence in Grafton as by his choice of employment in the forest, and its purpose was to enable him to retain his residence at Grafton although employed in the forest. It was held that the expenses incurred in relation to the temporary accommodation near the workplace while maintaining a family residence in another location were dictated not by his work but by private considerations, and therefore were not deductible. You incur expenses for renting accommodation and meals to enable you to work in a different city to where your principal residence is. However, as in Toms' Case , the expenses are a prerequisite to the earning of assessable income. They are incurred in order to enable you to earn income but are not incurred in the course of gaining or producing that income. A deduction is therefore not allowable for your accommodation or meal expenses while at your accommodation. However, where you are away from home overnight in connection with an income producing activity, meal expenses are deductible. The expenditure is not considered private because its occasion is your travel away from home on income producing activities. Therefore, on occasions when you are away from your accommodation on overnight trips, a deduction is allowed for the cost of meals, provided you are able to substantiate the expense.

Relevant facts: You are a sole trader and you live in State A. | You accepted a contract to work in another state. | You rented a motel room for the entire period while in the other state. | You picked up loads from the port and took them to another destination. The trip was two days out and two days return. | You had to have a day off after each trip for safety reasons.