Hello,
This question is about claiming "remote work" related expenses on tax, but the background of the issue will help with understanding why I'm even asking about this.
I have a 5050 week-about parenting schedule with my ex husband. We split in August 2020.
I was renting only a few km from the school myself at the time, while he was/is still is living with his parents, about 3.4km from the school.
After failing to earn enough for rent on my own after only a year, I was forced to move in with my parents, who live 10km "as the crow flies" to our childrens' school, which actually adds up to around 128km per day over the 5 day school week, including extra curricular activities, booked by myself and my ex. (Calculation based on consistent log-book entries during those weeks).
I have now been commuting almost 900km every other week since August 2021 and I am physically burnt out, and with the price of fuel on top of that, I am struggling...
Apparently, I was never meant to be a truck driver in this life...
My main dilemma - at the moment - are some Confidentiality Issues regarding my work.
I (structural designer) live with my father (structural engineer), and right now, my job requires me to keep myself isolated from anyone else I work around, due to confidentiality issues.
I cannot fulfil this obligation if my father decides to or is required to work from home whenever I am.
I cannot afford to rent a place on my own while working part time (due to the negotiated flexible working hours I have with my employer, to fulfill my parenting responsibilities every other week).
I can, however, afford to pay off a car loan over a few years.
My idea is to purchase and renovate an already partially converted bus into a suitable mobile office space for myself.
It already has a lot of the conversion work done, I would just need to add commuter seats for my kids, a solar setup for the air-conditioning and a workstation for it to be used as an office space.
Buying this bus would mean I would not have to do all 4 trips to and from their school each day, which would cut the hours I drive each day in half (as well as cutting fuel costs etc), freeing up almost 2hrs of my day.
It would also mean I could actually increase my working hours easily if I ever need to.
I would be able to park it down the road from my childrens' school and work remotely from there, instead of only getting 3.5-4hrs of work done between commutes.
Being able to work more hours with less travel would be amazing, as I am - and have been for the last 5yrs - unable to work anymore than 27.5hrs a week, due to the sheer amount travelling I do for schooling commitments.
Now that you know the background, here is my actual question:
If I buy this bus, add the components needed for it to be a satisfactory - to code - mobile office and use it to work remotely (whist also being able to shuttle my kids to and from school each day), am I even able to claim any part of that on my tax?
I would only be claiming internet fees after it is fitted out and I start using it regularly, would that bean issue?
Could a portion of the cost of converting the bus be claimed at all?
Do I need an ABN for that?
I hardly ever claim any work related expenses on my tax and I have also never been wonderful at understanding what you can or cannot claim on your tax for your work, even after doing some research on it.
Thanks to anyone who can give me even a little insight on the matter.
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