(QC 26103) IT professionals – income and work-related deductions

If you earn your income as an IT professional, this information will help you to work out what:

  • income and allowances to report
  • you can and can’t claim as a work-related deduction
  • records you need to keep.

Find out about IT professionals’:

Income – salary and allowances

Your income statement or a payment summary shows all your salary, wages and allowances for the income year. Include all the income you receive during the income year in your tax return, regardless of when you earn it, including:

Don’t include reimbursements.

Salary and wages

You must include your salary and wages as income in your tax return. Include any bonuses.

See also:

Allowances

Include all allowances shown on your income statement or payment summary as income in your tax return.

You may receive an allowance to:

  • compensate you for an aspect of your work
  • help you to pay for certain expenses such as meals when you travel for work.

If your employer pays you:

  • an amount based on an estimate of what you might spend such as paying cents per kilometre if you use your car for work, then it’s an allowance
  • for the actual amount of the expense (either before or after you incur the expense), such as paying for the petrol you use if you use your car for work, it’s a reimbursement.

Allowances on your income statement or payment summary

You may receive allowances:

  • for work that may be unpleasant, special or dangerous
  • in recognition of holding special skills, such as a first-aid certificate
  • to compensate for industry peculiarities.

These payments don’t cover you for expenses you might incur. Include these allowances as income in your tax return.

If you receive an allowance from your employer, you aren’t always entitled to a deduction as it depends on the situation. See Deductions.

Allowances not on your income statement or payment summary

Your employer may not include some allowances on your income statement or payment summary. This can apply to travel allowances and overtime meal allowances paid under an industrial law, award or agreement. You can see these allowances on your payslips.

If the allowance isn’t on your income statement or payment summary, and you:

  • spent the whole amount on deductible expenses, you
    • don’t include it as income in your tax return
    • can’t claim any deductions for these expenses
  • spent more than your allowance, you
    • include the allowance as income in your tax return
    • can claim a deduction for your expense, if you’re eligible – see Deductions.

See also:

Reimbursements

If your employer pays you the exact amount for expenses you incur (either before or after you incur them), the payment is a reimbursement. We don’t consider a reimbursement to be an allowance.

If your employer reimburses you for expenses you incur:

  • don’t include the reimbursement as income in your tax return
  • you can’t claim a deduction for them.

Find out about IT professionals’:

Last modified: 18 Feb 2021QC 26103