Private ruling: Deductions incurred for living away from home; eligibility of spouse offset
Published: May 2013
Ruling period: 1 July 2012 to 30 June 2013
Date scheme commenced: 1 July 2012

Ruling: Q1: Am I entitled to claim a deduction for my rental expenses of $X per week? | A1: No. | Q2: Am I able to claim a dependent spouse offset for my spouse, who is not currently working? | A2: We have declined to rule on this question, because it will not be possible to determine your eligibility for a dependent spouse offset before 30 June 2013.

Relevant facts and circumstances: · You work at a mining site. · You work on a continuous rotation roster of 3 days on, 3 nights on, and 3 days off. However, this roster may change, for example, you may work 4 days on. · No campsite is provided by the employer. Most workers are locals. · Your house is leased in your housemate's name. · You pay $X rent per week to your housemate, who leases the house from your employer. · Your flatmate pays $Y rent per week to the employer. · The power bill is in the employer's name, and the employer advises you how much of the power bill you need to pay. · You do not have a lease.

Relevant legislative provisions: Income Tax Assessment Act 1997 section 8-1 | Taxation Administration Act 1953 paragraph 357-110(1)(a)

Reasons for decision: Detailed Reasoning - Question 1:: Am I entitled to claim a deduction for my rental expenses of $X per week? | Detailed Reasoning - Detailed reasoning: You are unable to claim a deduction for the $X rent per week paid to a housemate. Under section 8-1 of the Income Tax Assessment Act 1997 , expenses are only deductible if they are incurred in gaining or producing your assessable income. Expenses are not deductible if they are private or domestic in nature. Accommodation expenses such as rent are not usually deductible because they are regarded as private or domestic in nature. Paragraph 29 of Taxation Ruling TR 95/18 Income tax: employee truck drivers-allowances, reimbursements and work related deductions explains that private expenditure includes costs of living such as food and accommodation. | Detailed Reasoning - Question 2:: Am I able to claim a dependent spouse offset for my spouse, who is not currently working? | Detailed Reasoning - Detailed reasoning: We have declined to rule on this question for the following reason. You cannot ascertain your spouse's taxable income until the end of the financial year. In order to provide you with a ruling, we would need to make an assumption about how much income your spouse will make for the tax year ending 30 June 2013. This assumption would require us to make an assumption about a future event or matter, which could prove to be incorrect. In accordance with paragraph 357-110(1)(a) of Schedule 1 of the Taxation Administration Act 1953, and paragraph 21 of Practice Statement Law Administration PS LA 2008/5 Written binding advice (private) - requests for further information, notification of assumptions and intended use of information from sources other than the applicant (PS LA 2008/5) the Commissioner declines to make a ruling in respect of this question.