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本帖最后由 3IX37 于 2012-10-7 15:45 编辑
taxbreak 发表于 2012-10-6 00:34 
反正如果travel allowance没有显示在group certificate上 是不能用commissioner's rates的 风险都是自己承 ...
A tribute has to be paid to our elite accountants, as they raised a very valid point here that Travel Allowance has to be paid to an employee before he or she can claim travel allowance expenses under substantiation exception rules under subdivision 900-B.
The technical disagreement we have here is the interpretation of what constitute the travel allowance, what it means by “must be paid as a travel allowance” and whether it has to be separately stated on the taxpayer’s PAYG payment summary statement to be a travel allowance here?
Before this debate goes any further, let’s refresh what legislations are in relation to this regard.
s.900-50 and s.900-55 ITAA 1997 are the substantiation exception rules for travel allowance expenses respectively for domestic and international.
And both state that you can deduct the travel allowance expenses without written evidence and travel records if the commissioner considers the amount is reasonable. (Note the exception rule does not cover international accommodation, for international accommodation a written evidence/invoice must be kept for substantiation.)
And the commissioner publishes his tax decision each year for this regard, and for 2012 TD2012/17 indicates what the reasonable amount accepted by the commissioner.
And then what is a travel allowance expenses in legislation?
s.900-30(2) defines it as a loss or outgoing incurred for your work travel that covered by a travel allowance. The losses or outgoings must be for accommodation or food & drinks or incidental expenses. (note here the word used is “covered” by the travel allowance)
What is a travel allowance then?
s.900-30(3) as well defines it as an allowance paid by your employer to you or yet to be paid to you, which covers the losses or outgoings that you incur for work travel either domestically or internationally away from home and that are losses or outgoings for accommodation or for food and drink or for incidental expenses. (again, here still does not mention the travel allowance has to be stated on the PAYG payment summary statement. On the other hand it can be an amount yet to be paid.)
Now the question leads to us what an allowance is?
The legislations have no clear definition in relation to this concept. TR92/15 gives it a common interpretation, that the payment is an allowance when a person is paid a definite predetermined amount to cover an estimated expense.
what it means by “must be paid as an allowance”
TD2012/17 states that one should read the ruling in line with TR 2004/6, and TR2004/6 further clarifies "Must be paid as an allowance" as follows:
Para 59 indicates that folded-in payment as part of normal wage, (eg. Under workplace agreement) is not considered to be an allowance. The fold-in payment is usually… how should I explain this… For example, before you started your work, even before you know where you travel to and whether you need to travel, purely based on the nature of your position it might requires you to travel, you negotiated with your boss and arranged some certain amount, let’s say $ 8,000 in addition to your agreed salary $100,000, then your annual salary effectively would $108,000 on your PAYG payment summary statement. This $8,000 is a fold-in payment, which is not considered to be an allowance.
Para 61 also indicates that a token amount of allowance, for example $5 per day to cover meals for work travel away from home is not considered to be a payment expected to cover the purchase of 3 meals per day.
The tests of "Must be paid as an allowance" in TR2004/6 are to ensure the travel allowance is bona fide; the allowance is for a particular travel, and with an intention from employer to cover the work travel expense on estimation, which aligns with the rest of the ruling.
Finally, an allowance is assessable income under s.15-2 ITAA1997
Overall, all the information in Ruling, Tax Decision, and tax legislations, none of those has an indication that the travel allowance need to be separately stated on the PAYG payment summary statement.
Maybe my understanding of tax system is still limited, that is why I still keep learning and updating my knowledge. If there is any reading I should have covered, please provide me some references and I will be more than happy to discuss and learn from others. After all that is what keeps us growing.
I know this is not a professional forum, but we are having a public discussion or debate if you like. Not trying to undermine one another, but I would expect a true elite with vast experience as claimed should present a case with facts, references and reasonings. Debating with "whatever" and no reference is not really professional, and totally lost the point of professional discussion, isn't it?
Yes, after all it is the taxpayer's ultimate responsibility in relation to his or her income tax return, no matter it goes through a tax agent or not. Isn't it true?
By performing a fiduciary duty and charging for it, one professional, on one hand, should ensure the integrity of the law and system is properly maintained, on the other hand he also needs to ensure to understand the law and manage clients' tax affairs in the best way for their best interest.
Having said that, no body would know all, certainly not me. So if you think my understanding is not on the right track, i welcome the correction. but please provide some reference. For someone like you whom i respect highly, i would expect more from you, my friend. |
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楼主:oz2009
发表于 2012-10-6 20:22
