What expenses can I claim without receipts?
- Travel expenses. If you're self-employed and use your private vehicle for work-related activities – such as traveling between job sites or offices – don't worry, you won't need to hoard all your fuel receipts.
- Uniforms and clothing.
- Home office expenses.
- Good record keeping = simpler tax return.
Learn basic tax-saving strategies you should know to help reduce your taxes.
- Step 1: Earn Tax-Free Income.
- Step 2: Take Advantage of Tax Credits.
- Step 3: Defer Taxes.
- Step 4: Maximize Your Tax Deductions.
- Step 5: Reduce Your Tax Rate.
- Step 6: Shift Income to Others.
- Step 7: Take Advantage of Your Filing Status.
If you have incurred excessive overdraft charges or other bank fees, you could try to reclaim them or come to an arrangement with your bank, especially if you're in financial hardship. Start by talking directly to your bank. If that doesn't work, you might be able to get free help.
GENERAL AND ADMINISTRATIVE EXPENSES
All of the basic expenses necessary to run a business are generally tax-deductible, including office rent, salaries, equipment and supplies, telephone and utility costs, legal and accounting services, professional dues, and subscriptions to business publications.The ATO generally says that if you have no receipts at all, but you did buy work-related items, then you can claim them up to a maximum value of $300. Chances are, you are eligible to claim more than $300. This could boost your tax refund considerably. However, with no receipts, it's your word against theirs.
Which self-employed expenses are allowable expenses?
- Office expenses. You can include business stationery, printing costs (including printer ink), and postage.
- Business premises.
- Travel.
- Stock and materials.
- Legal and financial costs.
- Business insurance.
- Marketing.
- Clothing.
With the percentage method, you tax the employee's regular wages and their commission separately. Withhold a flat rate of 22% on the employee's commission income for federal income tax. And, you withhold taxes on the employee's regular wages like normal.
Generally speaking, if you itemize your deductions (instead of taking the standard deduction), you can deduct your allowable expenses incurred to produce your income whether salary or commission. Yes all expenses against commission income is deductable while filing your income tax return.
Betty Bookkeeper explains how to calculate PAYE for commission earners – July 2016
- (R 9,000 + R 900) x 12 = R 118,800.
- R 118,800 x 18% (per marginal tax rate tables) = R 21,384.
- Tax minus rebates (assuming the commission earner is under 65 and the sole member of the medical aid) = R 21,384 – R 12,726 – R 257 = R 8,401.
Multiply the number of allowances claimed by the employee by the value of each allowance. For this example, if the employee claimed three allowances, multiply three times $925 to get $2,775. Subtract the value of the allowances from the employee's pay to find the amount subject to income tax withholding.
Typical tax deductions include:
Home office occupancy expenses including rent or mortgage interest, council rates and house insurance premiums. Referral commission and expenses. Handbag, satchel or briefcase. Meals and accommodation if required to be away overnight on sales trips or for training/conferences.As a commission employee, there are a variety of expenses that you can claim on form T777, Statement of Employment Expenses, when you file your personal income tax return. These costs commonly include accounting fees, legal fees, and costs for business cards, promotional gifts, cellphones, and computers.
Typical tax deductions include:
Motor vehicle expenses to and from work if required to carry bulky equipment when visiting clients, i.e. client samples and demonstration equipment that are at least 20 kg. Home office occupancy expenses including rent or mortgage interest, council rates and house insurance premiums.It's the same with other commission earners. After you register, you'll have to charge Vat on your commission. This is known as output tax and you'll have to pay it over to SARS on your Vat return. You'll also have to issue tax invoicesto those companies or businesses that pay you commission.
Commission (remuneration) Commissions are a form of variable-pay remuneration for services rendered or products sold. Commissions allow sales personnel to be paid (in part or entirely) based on products or services sold, rather than just hourly or based on attempted sales.
There is no change for those filing 2017 taxes, as investment expenses, like your advisory fees, are deductible as a "miscellaneous itemized deduction" if they exceed 2% of your adjusted gross income (AGI).
Deduction Rules
Example: If your AGI is $100,000, and you have $3,000 in financial planning, accounting and/or investment management fees, you'll get no deduction for the first $2,000 of fees, but you will be able to deduct the last $1,000—the amount that exceeds 2 percent ($2,000) of your AGI.The most common expenses that qualify for itemized deductions include:
- Home mortgage interest.
- Property, state, and local income taxes.
- Investment interest expense.
- Medical expenses.
- Charitable contributions.
- Miscellaneous deductions.
Tax preparation fees on the return for the year in which you pay them are a miscellaneous itemized deduction and can no longer be deducted. These fees include the cost of tax preparation software programs and tax publications. They also include any fee you paid for electronic filing of your return.
Fees related to accounts that are tax sheltered, like RRSPs, RRIFs, pensions, or RESPs are never tax deductible. TFSA fees aren't deductible either, given TFSA income and growth is tax-free. You can only claim fees that relate to taxable investment accounts like non-registered investment accounts, but not all fees.
You can only deduct certain types of union dues or professional membership fees from your income tax filings. The amount of union dues that you can claim is on box 44 of the T4 slip issued by your employer. You can claim a tax deduction for these amounts on line 212 on your tax return.
The Process and Rules of Itemizing
Your tax preparation fees are just one of them. You can also deduct things like charitable contributions, mortgage interest, medical expenses, some work-related expenses and state and local taxes you've paid. When you add all this up, the total should exceed your standard deduction.The deduction can be claimed directly on your income tax return.
- General Rule for Deduction of Legal Fees. As a rule, legal fees are deductible just like any other business expense you have paid the fees to earn income.
- Dealings With the Canada Revenue Agency.
- Establishing Your Right to Income.
- Other Special Situations.
