Claming bike expenses on tax

[Brougham]

How many of you guys & gals claim your bikes & running costs?

Eg - I'm self employed and work from home, so travelling to client's offices and back is considered legitimate expenses. My accountant said i claim my percentage of usage (3mth log book needed) of my fuel, insurance, rego, etc as well as percentage of interest on finance.

only prob is having to pay for standard rego and business use insurance (only extra $350 per year for me for the insurance).

not bad, given you use it mainly for work for the 3mth logbook period, then....

[Hudo]

u should be able to claim up to 5000km annually without a logbook. there are three ways you can claim logbook, 5000km and cant remember the other one. Not sure if this applies to mcycles iei know you cant salary sacrifice a bike

[hokoyo]

You can't claim a motorbike, specifically excluded.

[Brougham]

You can't claim a motorbike, specifically excluded.

mind telling me where you got that, as my accountant went through it and no, it's not excluded.

[evo9ace]

yeh i wrote 2 bikes, safty gear, services etc off on tax when i was a courier. had to keep pesky log books and petrol rcpt's but it was worth it

[Brougham]

You can't claim a motorbike, specifically excluded.

quickly rang my accountant and you're half right - if you're an individual and employed by a company then no, you can't claim it.

if you have your own business, then you can.

[Brougham]

yeh i wrote 2 bikes, safty gear, services etc off on tax when i was a courier. had to keep pesky log books and petrol rcpt's but it was worth it

it is a pain, but i have to do it for my car as it is, so not much more paperwork and it makes it cheaper to run a bike (less hassle from the missus!)

[Jonchilds]

I claimed as <1600cc car for self education expenses. ATO didn't kick up a fuss when they asked for a WRE breakdown.

[shmoo]

I claimed as <1600cc car for self education expenses. ATO didn't kick up a fuss when they asked for a WRE breakdown.

yeah but its SELF ASSESSMENT so the onus is on YOU to claim correctly. You fuck it up and its your problem, not theirs.

[Brougham]

you got 7 yrs of possible audit time to sweat that one out!

[spindle]

u should be able to claim up to 5000km annually without a logbook. there are three ways you can claim logbook, 5000km and cant remember the other one. Not sure if this applies to mcycles iei know you cant salary sacrifice a bike

Cents per kilometre method only applies to cars and not motorbikes.

[Brougham]

from the ATO regarding small businesses:

You usually get a deduction for all business purpose vehicle running costs.

• Other vehicles, including:
  • ordinary cars, station wagons or four-wheel drives
  • most other vehicles designed to carry less than one tonne or fewer than nine passengers, and
  • utes and panel vans where private use is not strictly limited.

motorcycles are included in the group of "most other vehicles designed to carry less than one tonne or fewer than nine passengers" according the my accountant.

and with that:

if you do under 5000kms business travel in a year, you can only use:

• cents-per-kilometre method
• logbook method

but if you travel more than 5000kms business travel in a year:

• cents-per-kilometre method (claim limited to 5,000 km)
• logbook method
• 1/3 of actual expenses method
• 12% of original value method

[Brougham]

ato link - Calculate your allowable deductions

[spindle]

from the ATO regarding small businesses:

motorcycles are included in the group of "most other vehicles designed to carry less than one tonne or fewer than nine passengers" according the my accountant.

and with that:

if you do under 5000kms business travel in a year, you can only use:

• cents-per-kilometre method
• logbook method

but if you travel more than 5000kms business travel in a year:

• cents-per-kilometre method (claim limited to 5,000 km)
• logbook method
• 1/3 of actual expenses method
• 12% of original value method

Yes but if you look at the rates, they only relate to cars and not motorcycles.

But technically a motorcycle qualifies as other vehicles designed to carry less than one tonne or fewer than nine passengers

[hokoyo]

Found this on ATO site

Utility trucks, panel vans, large passenger-carrying vehicles and motorcycles

If you owned, leased or hired (under a hire purchase agreement), one or more of the following vehicles and used them for work purposes, you can claim the costs you incurred relating to this work use (for example, the cost of petrol and oil).

• A utility truck or panel van with a carrying capacity of one tonne or more.
• A vehicle with a carrying capacity of nine or more passengers.
• A motorcycle.

You can claim the costs you actually incurred. As these types of vehicles are not considered to be cars you cannot use the ‘cents per kilometre’ method or any other method described in Claiming a deduction for car expenses to calculate your claim.