The ATO allows certain taxpayers to claim a deduction for the cost of buying and cleaning occupation-specific clothing, items of protective wear and for certain unique, and usually distinctive, uniforms.

The idea of making allowances to cover the cost of necessary travel by employees is not a new area of tax, but it had become significant — before the restrictions imposed by the pandemic. Businesses had been increasingly moving staff around to achieve expansion and build greater ties across greater distances, and one assumes (after the pandemic is under control) that the trend will pick up where it left off.

As a tax concept, “entertainment” can be relevant not only to fringe benefits tax (FBT), but also to income tax and even goods and services tax (GST). For a business, whether a business expense is “entertainment” will generally also determine whether the cost is deductible. If the expenditure can be shown to be directly connected with the carrying on of a business, it should be deductible. So could your client be missing out on some “entertainment” business deductions?