During the continuous state-wide lockdown caused by the COVID-19 pandemic in the past few year, guards and security industry employees have been in the front line and classified as essential services. In many instances their responsibilities have changed and / or increased including keeping a close watch on COVID affected sites and those in quarantine to maintain tight restrictions. With a great deal of respect for an Industry which met with unprecedented challenges, our CLY Ringwood Accountant are here to help you in preparing and lodging your tax returns.
There are quite a few deductions you may claim when you work as a Guard or Security Industry employee. Our CLY Tax Accountants Ringwood has listed some following common deductions for your reference. Feel free to contact us if you have any question or needs any further details.
Car Expense
If you don’t have fixed working place but have to travel continuously from one site to the other on the same day according to your employer’s planned shifts, you can claim your car expense accordingly. However, you generally can’t claim your car cost when travelling between home and a regular / usual workplace even if you work outside normal business hours or on weekends.
Uniform and Protective Clothing
In most cases, you may have to wear a compulsory uniform that is enforced by your employer with the business logo. You can generally claim a deduction for the cost of uniform purchase, hire, repair or laundry. If you also need to wear protective clothing (e.g., bullet-proof vest or high vis vest) at work due to the special risk involved, any related work can be tax deductible as well.
Licence and Training
If you need a licence or ticket to work as a security guard, you can claim the renewal fee as tax deduction. You can also claim cost of any ongoing training course for you to keep or improve skills in the security industry, such as Cert II in Security Operation. However, you can’t claim the initial cost to get a licence or get trained in order to gain the employment.
Guard Dog
We received lots of enquiries regarding the guard dogs. The dog costs are generally not tax deductible unfortunately. However, there can be exceptions if the duty required guard dog is specifically trained from puppy to become a guard dog and is not treated like normal family pet.
Ringwood Accountant
Although CLY Tax Accountants Ringwood explained some common tax deductions for security guards as above, there still can be variations according to different situations. Please contact our CLY accountant Ringwood and let us know your own circumstance and duty. We are more than happy to provide our professional tax advice and help manage your tax affairs.