he ATO has announced it has reinstated the meal-by-meal approach for truck drivers who claim travel expenses for meals, after consulting closely with industry. The ATO has issued Taxation Determination 2017/19, which covers employee truck drivers claiming meal expenses for the 2017-18 income year.
It says that to claim a deduction for meals, you must:
have been required to sleep away from home overnight, or for a long or night rest break, for work, andinclude the travel allowance you receive from your employer as income in your tax return, andclaim only the amounts you have actually spent on meals, and for which you were not reimbursed, andhave a record.
You don’t need a receipt for every meal expense if:
you are an employee, andyou were paid a travel allowance, andyou claim less than the amount the ATO has published as the “reasonable amount” for each meal (see below).
Although you are not required to keep a receipt for every meal expense, the ATO might still ask you to show that you were travelling, ask you to explain the basis for your claim, and require you to show that you spent this amount.
Receipts and other written evidence can be maintained in either paper or electronic form. Record keeping devices such as the ATO app’s myDeductions tool can help you keep records.
The reasonable amounts for meals
The ATO has set out the following reasonable amounts for meals (breakfast, lunch and dinner) for truck drivers for the 2017-18 income year:
Breakfast: $24.25 Lunch: $27.65 Dinner: $47.70
Truck drivers who eat their meals at unusual times due to the nature of their work won’t be disadvantaged. The ATO accepts that you may eat your meals at unconventional times, but you can’t claim a deduction for more than one meal of each type in a 24 hour period, so you can’t for example claim for two dinners in a row.
The ATO will continue consultation on an agreed approach for 2018-19 and future years with a view to establishing a daily rate to further simplify record keeping requirements for drivers. The ATO will also ensure that any truck driver who has been using, or wishes to continue using the published previous daily amount of $55.30, could continue to do so and would not be disadvantaged.
The records needed
To claim for meals up to the reasonable amount per meal:
Payment summary or payslipsto show the travel allowances you receivedWork diary, or other fatigue documentationrecord the days you travelled for work, including start and finish times, where you travelled to, and when you stopped for meals.Written evidence to show that you were the one that spent the moneyyou don’t need a receipt, but you need written evidence, such as bank statements to show you spent the money. If you travel the same route regularly and have a regular pattern of expenditure, the ATO accepts written evidence for a three month representative period.
Example: Dave is an employee truck driver who always travels from Tamworth to Cairns and back again. He keeps receipts and bank statements for three months to show that he usually spent $20 on breakfast, $25 for lunch, and $45 for dinner (stopping at different locations). As all of his expenses for each meal are below the reasonable amount, Dave does not need as many records. When he completes his tax return he uses his work diary to work out that he had 200 breakfasts, 210 lunches and 150 dinners when travelling for work. He uses the evidence he has for the three months to calculate his claim for $16,000 for meals. He includes the $40 per day allowance that he received when travelling as assessable income.
Note: If you have been basing your claims on the published previous daily amount of $55.30 a day, you will need to keep records for a one month period. You will not be disadvantaged for continuing to use this method. You can opt to switch from the previous daily amount to the meal-by-meal basis, but you cannot switch from the meal-by-meal basis to the previous daily amount.
To claim for meals more than the reasonable amount per meal:
Payment summary or payslipsto show the travel allowances you receivedWork diary, or other fatigue documentationthis can be used to verify times and dates where you were required to sleep away from home overnight or for a long or night rest break.All receipts or invoices for every mealshowing the name of the supplier, the amount you spent, the nature of the good or service, the day you spent the money, and the date the receipt or other written evidence was made.You might also be required to have other written evidence, such as bank statements, to prove you were the one that spent the money.
Example: Lea is an employee truck driver who always travels from Geraldton to Port Hedland and back again. Lea spends more than the reasonable amounts for breakfast, lunch and dinner so she is required to keep all of her receipts or invoices for every meal (and not just the amount over the reasonable amount). When she completes her tax return she uses her work diary and receipts to calculate her claim for meals which is the amount she actually spent and has a record for. She can’t use an ATM withdrawal or bank statement as they don’t have the details required, but these can assist if she is asked to show that she was the one who spent the money. She includes the $40 per day allowance that she received when travelling as assessable income.
For more on work-related expenses for truck drivers, see this ATO web page.
# [truck drivers], [truck tax], [trucks], [work-related expenses]
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