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October 31 marks the legal deadline for lodging your tax return if you are a self-lodger using myTax. But if you're using a tax agent to do your return, you still have time – possibly until May next year – to get your return done with no penalty.
Everyone wants to receive a healthy return when doing taxes, so it makes sense that you claim deductions for everything that you’re entitled to.
To help point you in the right direction, I’m sharing H&R Block’s hit list of some of the most commonly overlooked tax deductions.
Do you know about these tax deductions?
1. Professional memberships and subscriptions
If you’re a member of a professional or trade association as part of your work, you can claim a deduction for the amount you pay in subscriptions.
This also covers union fees if you’re a member of a trade union, as well as subscriptions to trade or professional magazines or – if you’re an investor – subscriptions to investment magazines, such as those focusing on shares or investment properties. Tax tip: if you prepay your fees or subscriptions for the next tax year before 30 June 2025, you can claim a deduction this year, which can be a useful timing benefit.
2. Rental property expenses
Most people with a rental property know a deduction can be claimed for the interest element of the mortgage. There are plenty of other deductions that can be claimed on a rental property – many of which are often overlooked.
If you’ve paid out for any of these costs this year, make sure you claim a deduction:
gardening and lawn mowing
bank fees
pest control
security patrol fees
bookkeeping/secretarial Fees
repairs
end of lease cleaning costs
letting agent fees, including marketing
strata title costs
land tax
credit checks on prospective tenants
advertising for tenants
hiring a debt collector to collect rent arrears
getting new keys cut
servicing items such as hot water heaters, smoke alarms, air-conditioning systems and garage door mechanisms.
quantity surveyor for preparing a depreciation report.
3. Tax affairs
If you paid for a tax professional to complete last year’s tax return, you can claim a deduction for the cost in this year’s return. Better still, you can also claim a deduction for any travel costs you incurred in getting to and from your agent.
Tax tip: it pays to get advice from a professional – if you’ve paid for any tax advice during the year, that too is deductible.
4. Income protection insurance
If you pay for insurance premiums against loss of income, those amounts are tax deductible.
Be aware: this doesn’t include life insurance or critical illness cover (also known as trauma insurance). It also excludes policies paid for out of your superannuation contributions.
Learn more about income protection.
5. Superannuation
You can make additional concessional contributions up to your concessional contributions cap (currently $30,000) and claim an income tax deduction. This means you can top up your super, provided you don’t breach your concessional contributions cap.
The super guarantee payments made by your employer, and any salary-sacrificed contributions, are also included in your concessional contributions, so the amount you can pay into super as a tax deductible contribution is the difference between those contributions and the $30,000 cap.
Here’s an example:
If your employer has paid $12,000 super.
You have contributed via salary sacrifice $4,000.
You have paid $16,000 in concessional super contributions.
If you want to make an additional concessional contribution, you can do so on $14,000 ($30,000 - $16,000 = $14,000).
Let’s say your employer paid $12,000 super but you hadn’t made any salary sacrifice contributions to your super, you could make additional concessional contributions on $18,000. ($30,000 - $12,000 = $18,000).
Note: any additional contributions paid now will be deductible in the 2025 return.
If you have some spare cash, this can be a great way to boost your retirement savings and claim a tax deduction.
Tax tip: the payment must be made within the current tax year and you need to advise your super fund that you’ve made the payment by the time you lodge your 2025 return.
Your super fund or accountant can give you guidance on how to complete the form and there’s a standard form on the ATO website.
Bottom line
Whether you’re eligible for most of these tax deductions or just one – knowing more about the ways that you could claim a tax deduction can help you maximise your return, year after year.
Go deeper:
Financial disclaimer
The information contained on this web page is of general nature only and has been prepared without taking into consideration your objectives, needs and financial situation. You should check with a financial professional before making any decisions. Any opinions expressed within an article are those of the author and do not specifically reflect the views of Compare Club Australia Pty Ltd.
