Education Tax Refunds

[Administration]

Thanks to ThirdArmBabySlingProject for this vital information:

Education Tax Refunds

Home educators are eligible for the Education Tax Refund currently in the news if they are also entitled to Family Tax Benefit (FTB) Part A for children in primary or secondary school for the relevant financial year and are registered with their relevant state organisation (e.g. The VRQA in Victoria).

Refunds of up to $375 per primary school student; and $750 per secondary school student are available each financial year but receipts must be kept in order to make claims.


The government’s press release is here:

http://www.treasurer.gov.au/DisplayDocs.aspx?doc=pressreleases/2008/077.htm&pageID=003&min=wms&Year=&DocType=0


and the Fact sheet here: http://www.treasury.gov.au/documents/1394/PDF/Education_Tax_Refund_Factsheet.pdf

[Asrathiel]

Cool :)
I wonder what exactly you can include in that? Maybe I should look at the links, LOL :P

[~*heket*~]

What sort of thing is claimable? I wouldn't say no to it I tell you :lol

[Asrathiel]

What items are covered?

Eligible expenses for the Education Tax Refund include:


laptops;
home computers and associated costs;
home internet connections;
printers;
education software;
trade tools for use at school;
school text books; and
stationery.



Bit of a narrow view of what's educational... but hey, what did I expect :P Better than nothing.

[~*heket*~]

hell yeah! but you gotta be registered for it so there's a catch :rofl

[bella]

It's a big catch, sigh.

[Beatrice]

At least there's some compensation for the hassle if one can't avoid having to register... Grr.

[Ceres]

I think I will register anyway so that I can ask for an exemption to look for full time work (being on a single parenting pension) so that sounds great, thanks!

[Kezia]

Crap, I was planning to claim everything we buy at Windmill :(
How illogical is their list hey?
Surely it would be cheaper to administer as well as fairer if they simply gave a Homeschooling Allowance to every home schooling family to use as they want/need?

[~*heket*~]

that's a much better idea.

And why aren't things like museum entrance etc on the list?

[Asrathiel]

And why aren't things like museum entrance etc on the list?

Yeah those were the kind of things I was wondering about :P

[ThirdArmBabySlingProject]

Refunds of up to $375 per primary school student; and $750 per secondary school student are available each financial year but receipts must be kept in order to make claims.

Not only do you have to be registered to claim but you have to spend a minimum of $750 for each primary aged child, and a minimum of $1500 for each secondary school child to be able to claim the $375 or $750 back!!!

[Stationary has a pretty wide scope...but I don't spend anywhere near that for seven children, let alone each!!!]

[bella]

Do you have to spend that amount? I thought the "Refunds of up to..." meant that was the maximum claim.

If you add up all stationery, printer ink, internet access (some families are increasing their plan and will claim the full cost back) - then you're on your way. But yeh, if it's a minimum of $375/$750 - that's a lot!

[ThirdArmBabySlingProject]

"By keeping their receipts, eligible families will be able to claim a 50 per cent refund every year for key education expenses up to:


$750 for each child undertaking primary studies (maximum refund of $375 per child, per year); and
$1,500 for each child undertaking secondary studies (maximum refund of $750 per child, per year).

For example, Sarah and Michael have two children, Petra, who is in secondary school and Jack, now in grade three. Through the Education Tax Refund, Sarah and Michael are able to claim 50 per cent of the cost of a $1,500 laptop computer they bought for Petra, a refund of $750.
They will also be able to claim Jack's education software and school textbooks up to the value of $750, receiving a refund of up to $375.
Where a family has educational costs in excess of the refund limit, these costs can be carried over to the next financial year."

[~*heket*~]

You don't spend that with 7??? :rofl I'm not surprised, but it's amusing none the less. What do you estimate you do spend?

[ThirdArmBabySlingProject]

Well, we probably would if we bought another computer but I don't want another computer even if the taxman's paying half!

I am now keeping receipts for everything that could possibly be linked to it so it will be interesting to see what accumulates, if I could pass it all off as for one child ~ it's looking pretty pathetic at the moment ~ couple of highlighters and art folders...?

We pick up bulk stationary when it's on offer ~ for example, when the dreaded Big W were selling ten exercise books for 10c, we filled all our bags and pull-along shopping trolleys ~ so that's probably a lifetime supply since we don't use exercise books in the usual way. They've been paper aeroplanes and other origami, and are for hangman, nought & crosses, boxes etc on train trips and when camping and a few are half full of magnificent stories.....

We bought bulk paints including face paints and fabric paints for about $250 about three years ago and there're still going strong...

I try to put aside $75 per week for 'Education' but the majority of that covers 2-3 home ed camps and 2-4 festivals a year so I don't think that would wash with the taxman! And I budget $35 per week for activities ~ currently soccer, tap dancing, knitting circle, two different dramas, gardening, chess club, ukulele ensemble and guitar lessons ~ these are all on our doorstep, community based in our wee township of 200 households so a nominal amount of money ($2-$5 per session).

College fees, expenses etc for our 17y/o were about $1500 for this year (but these can't be claimed back ~ I think it's assumed Youth Allowance will cover these costs but he isn't eligible for it as we are New Zealanders), and we probably spend about $5000 max per year 'officially' on (our definition of) 'education' for the rest of us, although there have been years where we have spent much less. $3500 of that $5000 would be if we went on all the camps and festivals, and very little else spent would be considered significant in the context of the tax refunds...

Now, if we could put bikes, picnic hampers, tents, magnifying glasses, hammers, nails & wood on the list, we'd be laughing ;-)

I'll let you know where we're at next tax year...

[~*heket*~]

Having just bought a new computer I'm a bit pissed that we'll only get $350 back BECAUSE SHE IS ONLY IN YR 6!? DUMB!

And I think tutors and lessons should be claimable too.

[Morph]

This topic was in the news again today. Registered homeschoolers are eligible. Details on the new rules etc, here (http://www.educationtaxrefund.gov.au/am-i-eligible.html)

[mummy2boys]

Next year uniforms are claimable - wondering how to pull that one off lol.

[JKay]

Sucks you can't claim membership for things like the zoo, etc..

[Beatrice]

But a zoo visit isn't edumacational unless you herd them round in a mob all clutching clipboards and answering inane questions, JKay!

[JKay]

But a zoo visit isn't edumacational unless you herd them round in a mob all clutching clipboards and answering inane questions, JKay!

lol! It's good to have you back, B!

[mummy2boys]

But a zoo visit isn't edumacational unless you herd them round in a mob all clutching clipboards and answering inane questions, JKay!

SO true! We see herds of them every time we go.

[JKay]

Terrible isn't it. Takes all the joy and fun out of a visit to the zoo :( Same thing when K and I went to amazing bodies - i wanted to help the kids answer their questions quickly so they were just free to look at the things that interested them!

[zenifa]

So who is claiming the education tax refund? What are you claiming?
We still aren't school age officially, so not registered and not claiming but I am curious. Not sure though if its worth the hassle of registering just to claim this ($ would be very handy though). Looking forward to hearing from others.

[mummy2boys]

We claimed last year without being registered.

[mummy2boys]

My big claim is internet.

[Jo-Ma]

We claimed last year without being registered.


Think I might try that this year.

[Ceres]

I didn't have very much to claim this year, we did all the big purchases last year. It was a couple of text books, some stationary, printer cartridges and the home internet.

[taliash]

We claimed last year i dont remember any questions about what school or home school? We are going to claim this year but id like to see a detailed list of what we can claim.

[Echo]

Hmm I kinda wish I'd known about this before I did our taxes this year! Not that we would have had enough expense to claim this year anyway...

[irishwillow]

Yep our accountant claimed for us last year and there was no actual question about registration.

[zenifa]

We claimed last year i dont remember any questions about what school or home school? We are going to claim this year but id like to see a detailed list of what we can claim.

The website, included in Morph's post has got sufficient detail I think to answer your question

Eligible expenses include the cost of buying, establishing, repairing and maintaining any of the following items:


School-approved uniforms including hats, footwear and sports uniforms approved by the school as its uniform
home computers and laptops
computer-related equipment such as printers, USB flash drives, and disability aids to assist in the use of computer equipment for students with special needs
computer repairs
home internet connections
computer software for educational use
school textbooks and other printed learning material, including prescribed textbooks, associated learning materials, study guides and stationery, and
prescribed trade tools for secondary school trade courses.

What items can’t I claim? You cannot claim:


school fees
student attendance at school-based extra curricular activities such as excursions and camps
tutoring costs
sporting equipment
musical instruments
school subject levies - for example, payment for consumables for particular subjects such as woodwork, art or home science
building levies
library book fees
school photos
donations
tuck shop expenses
waiting list fees
transport
membership fees, and
computer games and consoles.

Okay most of the list of what you can't claim is school centric.

DH and I did our etax yesterday and we did claim (some books, stationary and home internet), so will get half as DD1 was only meant to start school this year so can only claim for half the tax year, but every little bit helps. Nowhere on it does it say you need to provide proof of registration so we'll see how we go.