Miscellaneous

When a hobby becomes a business

By Taxwise / April 15, 2026 / Comments Off on When a hobby becomes a business

Taxpayers may not think they are running a business from their hobby or ‘side hustle’ activities. However, if they start to earn money from doing these activities regularly, they may be carrying on a business without realising it. Generally, carrying on a business involves ongoing and repeated activities with the intention of making a profit. […]

Know when a new logbook is required

By Taxwise / April 8, 2026 / Comments Off on Know when a new logbook is required

Editor: Keeping a car logbook may be required to accurately calculate the business-use percentage of vehicle expenses (e.g., fuel, registration, insurance and depreciation) for tax deductions. Taxpayers can keep the same logbook for their car for five years, but there are circumstances where they may need a new one during that period. Relying on a […]

Work-related expense claims rejected by Administrative Review Tribunal (‘ART’)

By Taxwise / March 25, 2026 / Comments Off on Work-related expense claims rejected by Administrative Review Tribunal (‘ART’)

The Administrative Review Tribunal (‘ART’) recently disallowed a taxpayer’s claims for many different types of work-related expenses. The taxpayer was employed full-time as an engineer, working from home two days a week. For the 2023 income year, he claimed deductions totalling over $61,000, in relation to (among other things) car expenses, travel expenses, clothing expenses, […]

Check GST credit claims before lodging BASs

By Taxwise / March 19, 2026 / Comments Off on Check GST credit claims before lodging BASs

Taxpayers who are registered for GST can get GST credit claims (or ‘input tax credits’) for the GST included in the price of goods and services they buy for their business. However, if they buy something for both business and private use, they need to apportion their GST credit to only claim the business use. […]

Government payments programs

By Taxwise / March 17, 2026 / Comments Off on Government payments programs

The ATO is reminding taxpayers that receive government payments for delivering services under a Commonwealth program, such as healthcare, disability support or child care, that they have an obligation to: keep accurate records; and report any such income they receive in their tax return. The ATO recently advised that it would be contacting taxpayers and […]

Contractors omitting income

By Taxwise / March 12, 2026 / Comments Off on Contractors omitting income

Through data matching, the ATO is seeing some contractors incorrectly reporting or contractors omitting income. Contractors need to report all their income in their tax return, including payments made by businesses for their contracting work. Note that, as part of the taxable payments reporting system (‘TPRS’), certain businesses must lodge a ‘Taxable payments annual report’ […]

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