Individual tax return instructions questions 1-12 and Individual tax return instructions supplement questions 13-24 deal with income. This section of the guide tells you how to include on your tax return:
- allowances
- reimbursements
- reportable fringe benefits
- reportable employer superannuation contributions.
Certain pay and allowances earned from overseas service may be exempt from income tax. Check with your employer.
Allowances
ADF members commonly get one or more of the following allowances:
- arduous conditions
- clearance diving
- common duties
- diving
- field
- flight duties
- flying
- hard lying
- isolated establishments
- language proficiency
- parachutist
- service
- special action forces
- special Royal Navy
- submarine escape training facility
- submarine service
- trainee’s dependant
- trainee leaders
- uniform maintenance
- unpredictable explosives.
If any allowance is shown as a separate amount on your payment summary, include it as income at item 2 on your tax return.
Generally, uniform maintenance allowance is the only allowance shown as a separate amount. All other taxable allowances are included in the gross earnings column of your payment summary.
Remember, you cannot automatically claim a deduction just because you received an allowance. See questions D1 to D5 in Individual tax return instructions to work out whether you can claim a deduction.
Reimbursements
If your employer or any other person reimburses you for expenses you have actually incurred, the payment is called a reimbursement.
Generally, you do not include a reimbursement as part of your income, so you cannot claim a deduction for the expense that was reimbursed.
However, you must show as income at item 2 on your tax return amounts that you received as:
- allowance for car expenses, or
- reimbursement for car expenses (worked out on the distance the car travelled).
You may be able to claim car expenses in these circumstances. For guidance on the rules relating to deductions for car expenses, see Car expenses.