Private ruling: book publishing expenses
Published: December 2011
Ruling period: Year ended 30 June 2011
Date scheme commenced: 1 July 2010

Ruling: Q1: Are you entitled to a deduction for publishing costs incurred while publishing a book relating to your employment? | A1: Yes.

Relevant facts and circumstances: You are employed full-time as a senior lecturer in a certain field of study at a university. A requirement of your employment is that you publish one or two articles per year and ideally a research book every four years. You have written a book which is related to your area of study. During the 2010-11 financial year you incurred expenses relating to the publishing of your book. Typically the publication of works by professors are covered by grants provided by the university. However as you had missed the grant scheme deadline, you were forced to pay approximately $3,500 for the publishing of your book yourself. You have not been reimbursed for the publishing expenses incurred for the publishing of your book. You have not received income from book sales. Generally once research books are published, writers rarely or never receive income or receive other benefits from book sales. The main benefit for authors of research books is the honour of being published by a peer review publishing company.

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 (ITAA 1997) allows a deduction for all losses and outgoings to the extent they are incurred in gaining or producing your assessable income. You cannot claim deductions under section 8-1 of the ITAA 1997 for expenses to the extent to which they are of a capital, private or domestic nature or they are incurred in gaining or producing exempt income. In your case, you are employed as a senior lecturer in a particular field of study at a university. As a part of your employment you are required to publish articles and books related to your area of study. You incurred publishing expenses in relation to a book you authored and published, the topic of which directly relating to your area of study at your place of employment. It is accepted that the costs you have incurred in publishing your book sufficiently relates to your income earning activities. Also, the publishing costs are not considered to be capital in nature as you are required to publish articles and books on a regular basis. Therefore, the costs you have incurred in publishing your research book is an allowable deduction under section 8-1 of the ITAA 1997.

Please check this edited version to be sure that there are no details remaining that you think may allow you to be identified. If you have any concerns about this ruling you wish to discuss, you will find our contact details in the fact sheet.