Don’t Cheat! Present Your Receipts!

Some Aussies have been found to try weird ways to claim tax deductions. These range from presenting Valentine’s Day cards to children’s photos and washing basket. 

One Aussie was even convicted for claiming a spouse rebate for someone who is not even his legal wife. He was also fined about $5,000. 

The Australian Tax Office is warning the public to follow the law to the letter. Official receipts are required before anyone can claim tax deductions. All income should also be declared. 

The tax office is also setting its eyes on defense personnel, café owners, doctors and other professionals who are investing and have self-managed superannuation funds. 

According to the tax office, most of Aussie taxpayers are upfront when it comes to claiming tax deductions. Last year, however, more than 100,000 tax claims were rejected for a variety of reasons. These tax claims amount to about $200,000. 

Bruce Quigley reiterated that taxpayers must present proper documents to make claims. Quigley is the ATO’s compliance second commissioner. 

Quigley said one of the weirdest document presented was a photo of a laundry basket and was classified under laundry expenses. Children’s photos were presented to make claims on education expenses. 

Another common justification for the tax breaks are for spouses that do not even exist. About 19,000 taxpayers tried to file claims for people they only knew on social networking sites like Facebook. 

These claims amounted to about $52 million worth of tax breaks. Fortunately, the tax office rejected these outright. 

Quigley cautioned the public to be honest in filing taxes. This reminder includes tax agents. He added that about 160 tax agents are being investigated for having a high number of clients who appear to not pay enough taxes.