If only we had gnome.
Garden gnomes – you either think they’re cute, or you think they could be the newest monster in the next Chucky movie. It doesn’t matter if you love or hate them, they can actually help you get some serious cash in your bank account. Yep, these weird little ornaments are helpful little things to have come tax time.
As it turns out, garden gnomes can be claimed if they’re used for decoration in an investment property. Who knew?
Well, when we found this out, we decided to look up some other strange tax deductions we’ve never even thought of. Let’s take a look!
Netflix
Look, we’re not going to lie – we didn’t know about this one before we wrote this article, so you’ll have to excuse us while we go upgrade to the five-screen plan. As it turns out, if you work in the media you can claim streaming services, magazines and newspapers back on tax as it’s essential to stay up to date on everything that’s newsworthy in the world. To claim, make sure to keep the receipts that you get emailed, and take them into Tax Today. With their Instant Tax Refund service, you’ll probably be able to get some cash back in the time it’ll take you to watch a few episodes of Gilmore Girls!
Dogs
We know what you’re thinking – you finally have an excuse to spend $50+ on cute outfits for your pooch. Well, before you head out to buy that hotdog costume for your little sausage dog, make sure that your dog is used for work purposes like security and farming. That way, he/she can be viewed as a ‘capital asset’. Also, don’t worry if you’re dog falls asleep on your lap looking cute. You don’t even have to move to get your tax return done at Tax Today with their online returns service!
Gym Memberships
If your fitness is an integral part of your profession (i.e a professional footballer or personal trainer), you can claim your gym membership back on tax. Unfortunately, you can’t claim back that membership you signed up for in January that you used for a week before you realised that you have no clue what a lateral raise is. Also, don’t worry – you won’t have to do any sort of physical exercise to claim your tax because the Tax Today app allows you to keep all of your deductions in one place. No running around like a mad woman to find your receipts come tax time!
Sunscreen
And… we’ve got the Banana Boat jingle from the mid-2000’s stuck in our head already. While we try to get that tune out of our heads, let us tell you all about claiming sunscreen. If you work outdoors (i.e. gardener, bricklayers), you can claim some dollars back if you slip, slop, slap. And, now we’ve got the slip, slop, slap song in our heads. If you’ve got unfiled tax returns as old as that jingle, then Tax Today can help you out too. They’re the experts in past year returns!
Art
Feel like bringing a little colour to your small business? Well, if you’ve got a business that turns over less than $10 million per annum, then you can claim your art purchases as a business expense for your company. Now we’ve just got to find out if framing a photo of cute puppies counts as art. Luckily, there’s about 5 galleries within 1km of Tax Today’s offices in Erina and Charlestown!
This article has been sponsored by Tax Today Erina and Charlestown.
Words by Kate Stevens
Images: Unsplash
