Tax deductions for office admin staff – How to boost your tax refund

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This one is for all the office administrators out there; the unsung heroes of EVERY business.

You are the organisers, arrangers, schedulers and geniuses who bring order and process together to make everything happen how it should. Suffice it to say, without you, the office melts into chaos. (You’ve seen your boss stare blankly at the “flashy thing” on the printer, right?)

So, here’s a big thank you to you all, the best way we know how. We thought we’d see how many tax deductions for office admin staff we can bring to your attention. It’s likely to considerably boost your tax refund this year.

Tax deductions for office admin: the basics

Work-related travel and car expenses

For admin staff, it’s common to use public transport or your own car for work-related travel.

For example: Do you need to deliver or pick up items from another office, shop or warehouse? Do you run other errands for your boss or anyone else at work during the day? It’s likely you regularly have to pick up the mail, stationery or food and beverages for meetings after you have arrived at work.

When you need to use of your own car or public transport for any form of work-related travel, and you pay for the fuel etc., you can claim the expenses in the office admin tax deductions section of your tax return. (Note this never includes driving between home to work.)

Work-related travel tax deductions for office admin can include:

Work-related tools and equipment

Have you bought tools or equipment, like a tablet or a laptop bag for your job? Perhaps you’ve purchased a license for some software, or stock images to use in the company newsletter? How about that notebook set you bought for jotting down your to-do list? Don’t miss out on these valuable tax deductions.

Tax-deductible work-related tools and equipment for office admin include:

• Purchase or leasing costs of laptops and tablets
• Computer accessories such as USBs, cables and headphones
• Stationery, including diaries and notebooks
• Software and stock license fees
• Work-related personal phone expenses
• Protective items
• Repair costs for work-related tools and equipment
• Insurance premiums for work equipment

Self-education expenses for admins

Professional development is essential to stay ahead in your career, so its a good habit to get into. Office admin tax deductions include self-education expenses. You can claim these if you take any job-related training during the year, such as:

1. Up-skilling in new software that you are required to use in your current position.
2. A writing workshop if you are responsible for the company newsletters etc.
3. Communication skills if you deal directly with clients

Common expenses:

• Course fees
• Travel costs
• Accommodation costs, where relevant
• Equipment purchased for the course
• Manuals and course related journals

To include these expenses in office admin deductions, the training must be directly related to your current job. (For example, you can’t claim a fashion design course if you work as an admin right now.)

Read our blog for much more information on claiming self-education expenses.

Home office running expenses

Are you ever asked to work at home after hours, or do you occasionally work at home during the day – perhaps in school holidays? If you do, you may be able to claim home office expenses.

You can claim the additional running expenses of your home office in two ways:

• The amount of actual running expenses incurred by recording an established pattern of use (Actual Cost Method).
• Or at a rate of 70 cents per hour, from July 1 2024, using the the fixed rate method

Be careful – don’t claim home office costs if, for example, you just check your emails in the evening out of habit. This tax deduction is for people who are required to work from home sometimes. The ATO really does investigate this sometimes. If you’re not honest about this one, it can get very uncomfortable with the ATO. You can read more about home office expenses here.

Other common tax deductions for office admins

• The work-related percentage of your personal mobile phone costs
• Union and professional association fees
• Charity donations
• Subscriptions to job related journals and magazines
• Income protection premiums paid outside of Super
• Tax agent fees for preparing your prior year’s tax return

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Download Top Tax Tips for Office Admin

To help jog your memory and collect all the right documents and details for tax time, we’ve created a helpful tax checklist and top tax tips personalised for office admin staff.

Know what tax deductions you can claim in you annual tax return and boost your refund EVERY year!