Tech takes the tax office?

The Australian Taxation Office (ATO) has confirmed that IT managers claim, on average, around half a grand more than your average Australian in tax deductions.

As such, the ATO will be on the lookout for people who are rorting the system, using its data matching systems to winkle out those who claim too much.

But the fact that the average IT manager claims AU$550 more than the average worker doesn't surprise me at all.

Self education would be a big item, for those eager-beaver IT peeps who want to keep their skills sharp (even if their company isn't footing the bill).

IT folk can claim deductions for travel expenses (including transportation, accommodations and meal costs) if a conference doesn't happen to be in their home towns. They can even claim registration and "conference material costs".

If you're hanging a holiday onto the end of the conference though, it gets a bit tricky. Watch out there.

Then there are home office expenses, although if you're employed by someone else, you're probably out of luck: "If your employer provides you with a place to work, your home office will not be a 'place of business', even if your work requires you to work outside normal business hours."

Oh well.

Another big one, though, is the work related use of computers, laptops, printers, software and server routers, as well as the cost of repairs to your PC and the cost of internet access.

Now, let's be honest: you probably shell out a lot more on tech than your average Joe Blow, don't you? It's shiny, and it's new. And it's technology, dammit! It's your passion.

So your expenses are going to be pretty damn high there.

And that's without thinking about other normal things, like cars used for work or union fees.

Only AU$550 over the average? Surely it's more than that!

If you want to check out what you can claim and what you can't, here are the details.