Access your income statement
You will receive either an income statement via myGov or a payment summary from your employer depending on how
You may be able to claim a deduction for self-education expenses if your study is work-related or if you receive a taxable bonded scholarship. In some circumstances you have to reduce the amount of your claim by $250.
Eligible courses
Self-education expenses are deductible when the course you undertake leads to a formal qualification and meets the following conditions.
The course must have a sufficient connection to your current employment and:
- maintain or improve the specific skills or knowledge you require in your current employment, or
- result in, or is likely to result in, an increase in your income from your current employment.
You cannot claim a deduction for self-education expenses for a course that does not have a sufficient connection to your current employment even though it:
- might be generally related to it, or
- enables you to get new employment.
Expenses you can claim
You can claim the following expenses in relation to your self-education:
- accommodation and meals (if away from home overnight)
- computer consumables
- course fees
- decline in value for depreciating assets (cost exceeds $300)
- purchase of equipment or technical instruments costing $300 or less
- equipment repairs
- fares
- home office running costs
- interest
- internet usage (excluding connection fees)
- parking fees (only for work-related claims)
- phone calls
- postage
- stationery
- student union fees
- student services and amenities fees
- textbooks
- trade, professional, or academic journals
- travel to-and-from place of education (only for work-related claims)
Some travel for journeys cannot be claimed, but you may be able to offset the cost of these journeys against the $250 reduction.
If an expense is partly for your self-education and partly for other purposes, you can only claim the amount that relates to your self-education as a deduction.
Expenses you can’t claim
You cannot claim the following expenses in relation to your self-education:
- repayments of Higher Education Loan Program (HELP) loans (although the fees paid by some HELP loans are)
- Student Financial Supplement Scheme (SFSS) repayments
- home office occupancy expenses
- meals (unless sleeping away from home), where not sleeping away from home
