Urgent warning to Aussies with a side hustle from UberEats delivery drivers to OnlyFans models

Daily Mail​

4 hours ago

Australians working side hustle jobs are set to get a rude tax bill as the government cracks down on gig economy roles.
The Australian Taxation Office is now directly contacting digital platforms to identify potential income taxpayers - meaning those with a side hustle can no longer hide.
CPA Australia, which represents Certified Practising Accountants, warned the ATO's new sharing economy reporting regime was targeting everyone from social media influencers to food deliverers.
Jenny Wong, the group's tax lead, said this meant Australians doing gig economy jobs with the likes of UberEats, DoorDash, Airtasker, YouTube and even OnlyFans risked a big tax bill if they failed to declare their income from these platforms.
'Until this year, individuals have been required to self-declare the income from their side-hustles,' she said.
'Now nothing will go under the radar. If you deliver food with DoorDash, work some casual jobs through Airtasker, or make content for Patreon, YouTube or OnlyFans, these sites are now reporting your earnings to the tax office.
'Though people might not consider earnings from digital platforms as income in the same way as their regular job, it is all viewed the same way by the ATO.
'Chances are that many people have simply not been declaring this income at tax time. That all changes now.'
Ms Wong said the tax office was also targeting those who rented out items online.
'If you use a website to rent out a car parking space or your designer handbag, this income will be recorded, and you'll need to pay tax,' she said.
The tax office's sharing economy reporting regime is expanding, meaning it will now be aware of all income earned from gig economy jobs in the 2024-25 financial year, above the $18,200 tax-free threshold.
'So, if you've had a successful year earning money through advertising revenue and streaming subscriptions, as well as through gifts and gratuities, the ATO will be expecting you to cough up,' she said.
'Yes, this even includes free cars, holidays, clothes and anything else you're lucky enough to receive as a form of payment.
'Depending on how much you've earned during the year, this could be a significant amount, maybe even tens of thousands of dollars.'
What can be claimed on tax?
Australian workers can claim items worth up to $300 in one financial year if they are used exclusively for work purposes, including a handbag used to carry a laptop computer and home office furniture.
But H&R Block's director of tax communications Mark Chapman said these items had to be used to generate an income.
'Let's be clear: to claim items like bags or sunglasses, they must be used in the course of earning income; and if there's any personal use, only the work-related portion can be claimed. And as always, records are essential,' he said.
'Items of capital equipment (such as furniture, computers and associated hardware and software) which cost less than $300 can be written off in full immediately.'
Australians working from home can claim 70 cents an hour on their tax, as a fixed rate claim method, provided they had proof since July 2024, in the form of diary entries, rosters or time sheets.
Purchases made before June 30 can also be claimed as a tax deduction.
'With many retailers running end of financial year specials, any purchases you make now can be deducted in this year's tax return so from a cash flow point of view, you can minimise the time between purchase and tax deduction,' Mr Chapman said.
What's the biggest misunderstanding about tax claims?
Tax planning accountant Ben Johnston, a director of Johnston Advisory, said he had encountered many Australians during his three-decade career who thought the entire cost of a work-related item could be claimed on tax - because of those end of financial year sale campaigns on television.
'The benefits of tax deductions are so overstated where leading into the financial year - Officeworks, Dick Smith, Harvey Norman - all encouraging and really making people have urgency to spend money where it's actually really dumb to spend money to save tax,' he told Daily Mail Australia.
'Our tax system confuses and misleads people to spend money they don't need to just to save tax.
'A lot of people think they spend $10 on stationery and they get $10 back in tax when in fact they might be lucky to get $3.20 back.
'The notion of something being a hundred per cent tax deductible gets confused with being 100 per cent refundable and it's so false and retailers really prey on it.'
Mr Johnston said he was frustrated by how many people didn't realise a tax claim simply reduced someone's taxable income.
This led to them spending money falsely hoping to save money, even if it didn't necessarily put them into a lower marginal tax bracket.
'A refund's actually a false economy in a lot of ways - a lot of people don't understand that,' he said.
'Someone earning $200,000 a year - the most they get back out of that $10 is $4.70.
'If you're an apprentice, that hasn't worked a full year or only earned under $20,000, you spent $10, they get no money back because they don't pay tax.
'You only spend money on what you need for work - if you spend money incentivised for tax, then you're stupid; you're only getting a proportion of it back based on what your tax bracket is.'