Private ruling: Other work related expenses
Published: November 2013

Ruling: Are you entitled to a deduction for the time spent updating your safety books? | No. | Year ended 30 June 2013 | 1 July 2012 | You are an employee. | Your employer requires you to update safety books weekly, which takes you a minimum of one hour per week. This must be done in your own time. | You wish to claim a deduction based on the hourly rate that your employer pays you to work. | Income Tax Assessment Act 1997 Section 8-1 | Section 8-1 of the Income Tax Assessment Act 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, or relate to the earning of exempt income. | You incur an outgoing at the time you owe a present money debt that you cannot escape. | In your case, while it is accepted that you spend time updating the safety books, a deduction is not available for the notional expense of ones own labour as you are not actually incurring expenses for your time. Therefore, you are not entitled to a deduction for your time to update the safety books.