Hospitality workers are leaving deductions on the table

Often, hospitality workers come to us to get their tax returns done thinking that they have nothing substantial to claim, many will also do their returns themselves through myGov as they believe there is nothing to claim.

Well, in some cases that might be true, but more often than not there are many deductions that hospo workers throughout Australia are missing out on.

List of deductions for hospitality workers in Australia

Below is a no-nonsense list of deductions you should consider compiling for the 2023FY as a worker in the hospitality industry, whether you're a bartender in Sydney, a barista in Melbourne or a chef in Brisbane.

Cost of renewing RSA or gaming license

Hospo employees are able to deduct the renewal costs of their RSA and gaming certificates which are needed to carry on their employment activities.

Clothing expenses

Expenses for the following types of clothing are deductible to hospitality workers:

• Compulsory uniform which has a company logo
• Occupation specific clothing, such as chef pants and shirts
• Protective clothing, such as kitchen clogs

Personal protective expenses

Facemasks, hand sanitiser, hand cream to counteract the dryness of the hand sanitiser, anti bacterial cream, protective glasses. Receipts for expenses related to staying safe at work should bekept and the expense taken to your tax accountant.

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Tools and equipment

Employees should keep track of any tools and equipment bought to help perform their duties, such as kitchen utensils, barista equipment or stationery.

Laundry Expenses

You can claim $1 per load every time you wash your work uniform, or 50c per load if there are other clothes in the load.

This can be quite substantial for hospitality workers who might wash their uniform multiple times per week.

Training courses

Self-education expenses such as barista or cocktail mixology courses which specifically relate to your current line of work are tax deductible. These can be pretty expensive so don’t forget to keep your receipts and keep track of these!

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Motor vehicle expenses

You can deduct motor vehicle expenses for travel from one work place to another or from the workplace to storage facilities to pick up supplies etc. You cannot deduct motor vehicle expenses from home to the workplace.

If you want to use the logbook method you will need to keep a log book of all car trips for a minimum 12 week period and you will also need to keep all your receipts for every car expense such as fuel, insurance, rego and repairs.

If you want to use the cents per kilometre method then you will just need to keep notes on your km’s travelled for work purposes.

Your accountant can check which method will give you the highest deduction.

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CTK Accounting

CTK Accounting is an award nominated tax firm based in Wollongong, NSW, if you would like to contact us reach out on our contact page.