Tax Deductions for Fly In Fly Out Employees

Fly-in-fly-out (FIFO) employees are typically those who work at a remote location, such as a mine or an offshore oil rig, for a certain period before returning home. As a FIFO employee, there are several tax deductions that you may be eligible for.

AT A GLANCE

• Overtime meal expenses
• Car expenses
• Uniforms and protective clothing
• Equipment and tools
• Other Work-Related Expenses
• General Expenses
• Overtime meal expenses

OVERTIME MEAL EXPENSES

If you receive a meal allowance from your employer that is based on an industrial legislation, award, or agreement and that allowance is reflected separately on your PAYG certificate, you may be able to claim the cost of meals when working overtime. Without keeping receipts, you can claim the full cost of the meal or the maximum allowed by the Australian Taxation Office. Any amounts claimed in excess of that must be accompanied by receipts.

TRAVEL EXPENSES

If you use your personal vehicle for work-related activities, such as travelling to conferences, meetings, or training sessions held away from your regular workplace, you may be able to deduct the cost of the vehicle. You must keep a log of your journey distance if you do intend to claim the cost of utilising your personal vehicle.

CAR EXPENSES

If you use your personal vehicle for work-related activities, such as travelling to conferences, meetings, or training sessions that are not hosted at your regular place of employment or seeing patients in their homes, you may be able to deduct the cost of the vehicle. You must keep a trip log if you intend to claim reimbursement for the expense of using your own vehicle so that you can estimate the distance you drove.

UNIFORMS AND PROTECTIVE CLOTHING

If the clothes you purchase for work has your employer’s emblem on it, you may claim the cost of that item.

Some protective clothing products, like as safety gear like glasses, gloves, masks, steel-toed boots, high visibility clothes, and sun protection gear like sunscreen, sunglasses, and hats, may be claimed as tax deductions.

Any of the aforementioned work-related or protective clothing that you rent, fix, or clean can be written off.

EQUIPMENT AND TOOLS

Typical tools and equipment that qualify for a tax deduction include:

• Power tools and Equipment
• Electronic equipment such as computers, iPad and mobile phones
• Purchased materials or supplies for the workplace, such as safety gear, beacons, first aid supplies, and GPS devices.

OTHER WORK-RELATED EXPENSES

Fly in fly out workers may deduct a number of additional work-related costs from their taxes, such as:

• Annual membership or union fees, such as CFMEU fees
• Fees to renew machinery operating licences and tickets required for your work (apart from a normal driver’s licence)

GENERAL EXPENSES

Additionally, there are a number of general tax deductions that are open to everyone regardless of profession or occupation, such as:

• Conference and seminar fees
• Donations to registered charities
• Home office costs
• Income Protection Insurance
• Reference books
• Self-education
• Tax agent fees
• Telephone and internet fees (for the work-related portion only)