Private ruling: Self education expenses
Date of advice: 11 May 2021
Published: July 2021
Ruling period: Year ended 30 June 2020 | Year ending 30 June 2021 | Year ending 30 June 2022 | Year ending 30 June 2023 | Year ending 30 June 2024 | Year ending 30 June 2025
Date scheme commenced: 1 July 2019

Ruling: Q1: Are you entitled to a deduction for the costs associated with studying the course? | A1: Yes. Yes. Based on the information provided to the Commissioner you are entitled to a self-education deduction under Section 8-1 of the Income Tax Assessment Act 1997 for the course. The course has the relevant connection with your income earning activities.

Relevant facts and circumstances: You run your own business advising boards and committees. You are a member of a number of borads and committees. You are paid by these boards and committees for your expertise. You are expected to be proficient in your understanding and application of Australian legal and governance principles. You are required to utilise a foundational set of legal skills to: • identify, critically analyse and work on resolving complex legal and governance issues that arise for the boards and committees; • manage and communicate with various stakeholders of those boards and committees who have different levels of legal understanding; • articulate your findings from legal research and help formulate solutions to legal problems based on those findings; • guide the boards and committees in making appropriate decisions having regard to commercial, legal and governance objectives; • apply legal knowledge to help the boards and committees: • fulfil their corporate governance requirements; • fulfil their statutory compliance obligations such as their work, health and safety requirements in accordance with the Fair Work Act 2009 (Cth) and the relevant NSW legislation; and • set appropriate risk appetites incorporating legal perspectives; • review contracts and agreements to assess for any legal or other risks; and • help the boards and committees meet their various contractual obligations. In XXXX, you commenced a ("course") to enable you to become more proficient in your roles on the boards and committees by improving your existing legal skills. The core objectives of the course include to enable students to: • understand and apply a broad and complex body of legal knowledge; • critically analyse the broader context to which law and legal principles have application including interdisciplinary, international and comparative perspectives; • exercise incisive judgment in the application of legal knowledge in other professions; • recognise and resolve specific legal problems and formulate and articulate law and policy reform through sophisticated legal research skills and high-level critical thinking and judgment; and • communicate clearly and effectively at a professional level, in both oral and written forms to specialist and non-specialist audiences. These subjects will provide you with a foundational knowledge of the core legal principles underpinning Australia's legal system and enable you to maintain and refine the existing legal and governance skills you currently utilises in your roles on the boards and committees. Having regard to the above, the subjects of the course will help you to better: • recognise, critically analyse and work on resolving complex legal issues that arise for the boards and committees; • manage and communicate with various stakeholders on legal issues; • undertake legal research and articulate your findings from that research; • formulate solutions to legal and commercial problems based on your legal research; • guide the boards and committees in making appropriate decisions having regard to commercial, legal and governance objectives; • apply your legal knowledge to help the boards and committees fulfil their corporate governance and statutory compliance obligations; • review contracts and agreements to assess for any legal or other risks; and • help the boards and committees meet their various contractual obligations. Further, the course will provide you with the opportunity to: • maintain and improve your performance in your existing roles on the boards and committees to enable you to become more proficient in those roles; • be reappointed to some of the boards and committees in the future; • obtain new contracts with other boards and committees; and • obtain better paid positions with boards and committees in the future. For instance, you have found that many of these positions advertise that a set of legal skills is a pre-requisite to applying for those positions. You have incurred and will continue to incur tuition and textbook fees as you continue to undertake your course. You are a full fee paying student. You are not reimbursed for any of your expenses associated with your study.

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


This ruling applies for the following periods: