Plumber Parramatta: Make Sure You’re Taking Advantage of Tax Deductions

Picture this: you are a highly sought after plumber in Parramatta working day and night. Do you not want to save everywhere possible on your budget, expenses, and taxes? You certainly deserve to! There are ways to maximise your tax deductions and save money on professional expenses – as a tradie you should be aware of these specific ways to put money back in your pocket, where it belongs.

Union Fees

First things first, all union dues and dues you pay to any professional organization are tax deductible. However, be prepared to produce verification that you are in fact licensed under the trades for which the union covers.

Laundry Fees

Were you aware that you can deduct the cost of laundering and dry cleaning your uniforms? There are two ways to do this: produce actual dry cleaning receipts or estimate $1 per load per day for the calendar year.

Protective Clothing

Trade-specific footwear such as steel-toed shoes or rubber soled items are of the most common protective clothing claimed. However, as a tradesman you can also deduct gloves, overalls, trousers, safety vests and even fire-resistant clothing.

Mobile Plan

This can be a bit tricky to claim. Oftentimes your phone contract is used for both personal and business calls. In order to claim the phone contract there needs to be a division amongst the two. An easy way to do this is to use a separate phone for business if possible.

Travel and Transport

Any point in time that you are transporting work-related tools in a vehicle you can claim the costs associated with that. When it comes to travel, if the tools are in the vehicle during trips to and from work you may claim that as well. This is generally due to the fact that many tradies are on call 24/7 and need to have that immediate access to their trade tools at all times.

Tools

The most popular tax deducted item is tools, especially through occasions when the tools are worn, broken, lost, or replaced on a regular basis. If the total cost of the tool is less than $300 generally the tradie only files a deduction for the tool once. However, if the tool is more than $300 then it is customary to write the tool deduction off in increments while adjusting each year for its depreciation value.

There are certainly more items to include within your tax deductions. Keep in mind this is only a starting point. Consult with a tax professional for more information regarding what can and should be filed.

If you do need a good accountant to help you with tax, try contacting an accountant from our Tradebusters Academy network. These accountants specialise in helping  tradesmen in business and we sure one could be a good choice for you.