Proposed $2000 cap on self education expenses
- Thread starter china
- Start date
I Q business class being a deduction in another thread because I was surprised that it would be.
As it stood some of these deductions were 'unlimited' and others like business class -which is obviously NOT necessary- probably did need a review.
This doctor's wife goes each time too, and they seem to spend a lot of time sightseeing together, and not at the conference.
They better not remove this then. Seeing as though they're removing some tax offsets I use, allowing me to take advantage of this one will even it out
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Some postgrad units cost $2500 each. If you do 1 per semester thats 5k. It doesn't include text books either. Some workplaces can and do foot the bill. Others can't pay or choose not to pay or compromise by paying self education allowances up to a certain limit pa as part of their workplace agreements.
While it is called self-education - because it is funded by the user, in most cases the benefits of this education filter into society and the areas in which the person works or has an interest.
I disagree.
you might as well call negative gearing a handout using the above logic.
" Its something investors chose to do in their own time that clearly wasnt necessary - It is effectively a handout for people to remain greedy landlords and none of us think well of that do we!
Piffle and so, by extension, is that argument.
Hands up who completed thier advanced degrees while working full time and raising a family? How do you feel about being called a professional student as you handed over $$$ over the life of your advanced degree.
Self education expenses in the name of improving individual employment prospects should be deductable.
And available to all, not just clever accounting twists if you are a company
we are not talking about masters in basketweaving!
We are talking about MAs, international research conferences, multi million dollar business traffic on a world platform.
So Wylies' Dr Missus sightsees with her husband on the odd conference. (she isnt deductable by the way, only his expenses are). Small change. That is a narrow view of a more serious concern
Masters degrees by and large are not be paid for by most companies as loyalty is a thing of the past. They work force is too mobile now. Why should the company pay to improve staff unless they are guaranteed to see benefits? Most wont,
The Unis wil hurt. Those of us who participate in global business will still do so. The dodgy conferences will fall by the wayside, If you are a serious player you dont have time to go to them anyway. Small bikkies. But this badly thought out mess will have repercussions more than appears.
Australias brain drain will continue, and all this on the background of further cuts to tertiary education. This one is sneaking in thru the back door but will still hurt.
Ummmmm, me? I don't mind being called a professional student - I even started a DBA because I was bored at work. Fortunately I found a more interesting job instead because there was no way the DBA would have added any real value to anything, that's for sure! Completed the Masters while I still had the boring job in a power station though and took the tax break FWIW. I would have done it anyway though.
Universities will really feel it? Cry me a river! They have far more to fear from the likes of Coursera et al to be worrying about this. Employers are already focussing far more on skills than degrees in many industries with the massive number of degrees that are now out there - the degree is slowly becoming less relevant and the skills can be learnt outside the hallowed grounds of the ivy league or on the job, heaven forbid.
Self education is a choice after graduation just as it is before it. Uni fees aren't deductible if they're not in the same profession as your employment so undergrads get no breaks - why should postgrads? If you want to study forever be my guest but don't expect everyone else to help fund it!
BTW Negative Gearing is not a relevant example as a self education expense does not directly produce income, unlike real estate investment. If we started counting everything that indirectly produces income we would be able to claim food as a tax deduction!
My apologies,
As you said, you are a professional student, with all it entails.
thanks for clearing that up.
Good night.
BTW negative gearing doesn't directly produce income... hence the word "negative" otherwise it would be called "positive".
It will one day... just like self education will hopefully one day pay off as income... unless you are a professional student and study things "that add no value to anything".
As you said, you are a professional student, with all it entails.
thanks for clearing that up.
Good night.
BTW negative gearing doesn't directly produce income... hence the word "negative" otherwise it would be called "positive".
It will one day... just like self education will hopefully one day pay off as income... unless you are a professional student and study things "that add no value to anything".
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What's CPD???
I'm sorry, but you lost all of your credibility in your previous posts when you complained that you could not be expected to present at conferences after flying economy, which has nothing whatsoever to do with 'self-education' or 'improving employment prospects' and would fall squarely under business expenses. If you don't understand the rules, don't complain that they aren't fair.
P.S. Where do we draw the line at 'improving employment prospects'? Business class trip to Las Vegas? Taking yachting lessons so that one can swoon potential business clients? Botox for unsightly crow's feet?
As a follow up...
Today I met a doctor and went through her tax return. Definitely on an excellent income, but I can assure you after expenses she's not bringing home anywhere near $30k per day...
Compulsory professional development.
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I wish they were business expenses. Life and the tax form becomes easier.They are educational expenses I afraid. Alway have been, my accountant says.
I wish you were correct... you will reduce my future tax bill!
And I assure you... Ive never complained about business class
would still fly it even if it wasnt deductable for conferences. The good ones are game changing and thats the point of education.
I like to have a clear head and not be sleep deprived, I dont get to go to very many or for very long so I make the time count.
If you think business class is unreasonable to travel to an educational event... fine, agree to disagree. I will wave to you from the pointy end. I will be there tax deduction or not!
Good piont ->I dont have the answer but.... if you can prove reasonable educational improvement, well... Its valid! Aaron C said it much more elegantly than I did, re-reading his posts is instructive. His arguments are cohesive.
I agree there has to be a limit somewhere.
I think the line could better be drawn than an arbitrary 2k.
Ah well, I can live with it. The free champers from qantas helps as well. Im off to share it with Pierpont
toot toot chaps!
I wish they were business expenses. Life and the tax form becomes easier.They are educational expenses I afraid. Alway have been, my accountant says.
I wish you were correct... you will reduce my future tax bill!
And I assure you... Ive never complained about business class
would still fly it even if it wasnt deductable for conferences. The good ones are game changing and thats the point of education.
I like to have a clear head and not be sleep deprived, I dont get to go to very many or for very long so I make the time count.
If you think business class is unreasonable to travel to an educational event... fine, agree to disagree. I will wave to you from the pointy end. I will be there tax deduction or not!
Good piont ->I dont have the answer but.... if you can prove reasonable educational improvement, well... Its valid! Aaron C said it much more elegantly than I did, re-reading his posts is instructive. His arguments are cohesive.
I agree there has to be a limit somewhere.
I think the line could better be drawn than an arbitrary 2k.
Ah well, I can live with it. The free champers from qantas helps as well. Im off to share it with Pierpont
toot toot chaps!
I wish they were business expenses. Life and the tax form becomes easier.They are educational expenses I afraid. Alway have been, my accountant says.
I wish you were correct... you will reduce my future tax bill!
And I assure you... Ive never complained about business class
would still fly it even if it wasnt deductable for conferences. The good ones are game changing and thats the point of education.
I like to have a clear head and not be sleep deprived, I dont get to go to very many or for very long so I make the time count.
Get a better accountant. Presenting at a business conference (which is the scenario you used as an example) is a business expense not a 'self-education' expense. Since when is educating others (presenting at a conference) considered 'self-education'?
Agree to disagree indeed. Please, do enjoy your game-changing holiday (oops, I mean, 'self-education'), tax deductible or not.
http://news.smh.com.au/breaking-news-national/eye-specialists-earn-28000-a-day-20091118-ikya.html
Business expenses are about 1k per working day for surgeons, about 5k per week
Glad that my mother is a GP and doesn't have to pay 5k a week in business expenses, most of which would be PI insurance.
PI depends on what speciality the doctor practises in. Higher risk specialties pay more. PI premium is also dependent upon gross income generated by the doctor.
As you can see on page 26 of this government report,
http://transition.accc.gov.au/conte...emnity+insurance,+sixth+monitoring+report.pdf
GPs have the lowest PI costs. In a surgical practice, the highest costs include:
staff costs (often bigger than PI costs), advertising costs, PI and office rental
However, the 5k a week in expenses which equals about 250k a year is not too bad if you are grossing over 1 mil a year which GPs rarely do but surgical / procedural specialists e.g. opthalmologists, gynecologists routinely do. This comes with a large tax bill.
Conferences in good exotic overseas vacations flying business or first class are one of the bigger "self education" tax deductions for these multi-mil specialists and comes under threat with the proposed 2000 cap.
ah; but here's the real question; would they still go if it wasn't tax deductible?
Shoosh; the Gubbmint might hear you and start asking questions.
They fly to these places because it is tax deductible - half price travel effectively.
When I was in the pro golf world, every year there was a Trade Show. Most years it was held in QLD during August.
Guess which States had the largest representation at these events? Melb and Tas (winter).
I went because it was a very cheap trip north to escape the cold.
Oh; but we did buy a bit of stock for the shop and sat in on a seminar/workshop...didn't blow a gasket though.