ATO warning after ABC presenter claims $5,878 in rent as WFH expense

ATO warning after ABC presenter claims $5,878 in rent as WFH expense

Briefly

"An Australian journalist's work-from-home case could end up seeing the Australian Taxation Office scramble to change the law to ensure it doesn't get used by millions of others seeking to get some cash returned from the taxpayer. A Melbourne-based ABC radio presenter was able to claim nearly $6,000 in rental expenses when doing his tax return previously. Ned Hall was able to do this because he converted his second bedroom into an office during the pandemic and claimed the occupancy costs associated with working from home."

"But Tax Invest Accounting director Belinda Raso told Yahoo Finance that renters shouldn't anticipate they will soon be able to follow in Hall's footsteps. She believes the tax office will move swiftly to prevent others from also claiming their rent in this way. "Before people rush out and think that this is setting a precedent, I can almost guarantee the ATO will change that ruling and they'll backdate it," she said."

"Hall was able to claim $5,878 in rental expenses and $1,148 in car costs in the 2020-21 financial year, the latter which he said was necessary to travel between his home office which he set up in his second bedroom and his actual office. During the Tribunal process, it was noted that claiming occupancy expenses for a home office have only been allowed in "very limited" circumstances. But because this happened during the pandemic, the second bedroom was declared the taxpayer's "main workplace for that year" and he was entitled to a deduction for occupancy expenses."