Benjamin Franklin, American inventor, journalist, printer, diplomat, and statesman, once said, "...in this world nothing can be said to be certain, except death and taxes."

But why pay more than our fair share? Here are our Top Ten Tax Tips for individuals, many of which should be considered BEFORE 30 June, to minimise your tax payable this financial year.
It’s important to understand that employees in some occupations are able to claim deductions, while others are not. People in trades, for example, can often claim clothing allowances for uniforms. Office workers, on the other hand, generally cannot – unless the work attire is a uniform or clothing with a business name or logo on it. Whether we agree with this ruling, this is how the ATO sees it – that office worker attire, in most instances, is not a specific uniform that is essential to the business the worker is involved in. Any work-related expenses you try to claim in your tax return must be work related. For example, normal travel to and from work isn’t a business expense and cannot be claimed as a tax deduction. There are exceptions to the rule, however. Tradesmen who have to carry heavy machinery or tools to work can claim travel expenses as a deduction.

• Salary Sacrificing
  

  Consider salary sacrificing some of your salary into tax free benefits such as a laptop computers, mobile phones and motor vehicles.

• Tax Effective Contributions to Superannuation
  

  Superannuation is still one of the most effective ways of minimising your tax. There are, however, restrictions on how much you can contribute into superannuation tax effectively. You are limited to an amount of $25,000, and $50,000 if you are aged over 50(Until 30 June 2012). It is important to ensure if you are an employee, that in order to achieve a tax saving, your contributions are before tax.
  Savings into super are taxed at 15% instead of the personal marginal tax rate. A person earning $100,000 a year and salary sacrificing $7,800 a year gets a tax break of $2,990 per annum.
  Salary sacrificing can lower your marginal tax rate by dropping you into a lower tax bracket and really boost your superannuation account. In this way it’s a much better strategy than simply saving after tax money.
  Be aware of the concessional and non-concessional caps when salary sacrificing into super. Visit www.ato.gov.au for key superannuation rates and thresholds.

• Motor Vehicle expenses:
  

  If you use your car for work, keep a log book (12 week period) and a record of all your running expenses for the year. By not keeping these records, we are limited with our options in calculating how much you can claim.

• Other work related expenses:
  

  Ensure you keep a record of any other work related expenses that can be claimed. The basic rule of whether an expense is deductible comes back to whether there is a direct link between the earning the assessable income and incurring the expense. See the following list of common other work related expenses that you will need to substantiate if you wish to make a claim:

  • Union Fees and business subscriptions
  • Professional seminars and workshops
  • Tools & equipment and professional library items
  • Telephone & internet expenses
  • Uniforms
  • Self education expenses

  Note:Keep good records
  Keep complete records of your work expenses to justify the work-related expenses you wish to claim as deductions.
  If you face an audit at some stage in your working life and can’t prove your claims you may have to pay additional tax and a fine or worse still face a tax fraud charge.
  Self EducationTo be deductible, self-education expenses must be incurred on a course specifically related to your current occupation. Providing the course is approved, expenses such as tuition fees, text books and journals, depreciation of library collections, fares & travel costs and accommodation – as well as interest on loans to finance any of these expenses – can all be claimed.

• Home Office Expenses:
  

  If you use a part of your home principally or solely to conduct your business activity, certain costs may be claimed as a deduction. Examples of these costs could be heating, cooling, lighting, depreciation of office equipment, or a professional library. Keep in mind that deductions for mortgage interest, insurance, or rent may not be claimed unless a business is run from your home.
  In order to claim this deduction, you must show a log of working at least four weeks of the hours worked from home. This amount is then calculated to determine your total hours worked within the year with a deduction rate of $0.34 per hour.

• Education tax refund:
  

  An education tax offset is available for families who receive Family Tax Benefit A for 50% of the cost of items such as educational software, home computers and associated costs, home internet connections, laptop computers, printers, school texts, stationary and trade tools used in school.
  The maximum amount of the rebate is $375 for each child in primary school and $750 for each child in secondary school. Where an eligible education expenses has been incurred for more than one eligible child, the expense can be shared between the children. However, this is subject to all the children having access to the purchased (i.e. home based computer). This is called pooling. If you spend over the maximum claimable amount in one financial year, you can claim the excess eligible education expenses the following year. Eligible expenses that are not claimed within two financial years are lost and cannot be claimed in later years.
  Education Tax Refund - Home

• Medical Expenses Rebate:
  

  If the net ‘out of pocket’ medical expenses of you and your dependants exceed $2,000 for the year, you will be entitled to a 20% offset for the amount over this threshold. You can obtain summaries of your medical expenses from Medicare and your Private Health Insurer. Visit the ATO’s website for a detailed list of medical expenses that qualify.

• Business Structure:
  

  Ensure you have the best legal structure – not only to conduct your business, but to purchase any investments. Having the right business structure will not only save you in tax, but provide you with other benefits, like asset protection and succession planning, which will ultimately benefit you!

• Get Professional Advice:
  

  Doing your tax return yourself may save you in accounting fees, but may cost you greatly in missed deductions!