Item D4 - Work-related self-education expenses
It is important to read Item D4 work-related self-education expenses on the ATO website for details of what you can claim at this item.
From 1 July 2018, if you have work-related self-education expenses, the ATO requires you to lodge a Deductions schedule (DDCTNS, Tax schedule code ds).
These are expenses incurred from a work-related course to obtain a formal qualification from a school, college, university or other place of education.
To comply with ATO changes, we've redesigned the Self-education worksheet (sed). Click label E to open the Work-Related Self-Education Expenses Worksheet (sed).
To add a row, press Ctrl+Insert. To delete a row, press Ctrl+Delete. If you have more than 20 sets of details, we'll total the 20th and subsequent entries into one entry in the Deductions Schedule (DDCTNS).
Motor vehicle expenses and Depreciation expenses relating to D4 are passed from the Motor vehicle worksheet (mve) and the Depreciation worksheet (d).
You can only claim self-education expenses that relate to your work as an employee at the time you were studying.
You can't claim if the self-education was undertaken in order to get a new job or commence a new income earning activity.
Enter the self-education expenses under the correct category (for example, A, B, C, D and E, because when working out what you can claim, certain costs are reduced by $250).
When you close the sed worksheet, we'll add up the amounts and pass the values from the sed to:
- Item D4 label D in the income tax return
- Item D4 in the Deductions Schedule (DDCTNS).
ATO requirements for consolidation
If you have more than 10 motor vehicle worksheets (mve), motor vehicles using the cents per km method integrate to the DDCTNS first in descending order (highest km number to lowest number), followed by the log book method. This is to assist with the consolidation record not breaching the 5,000 Km limit.
- Gross depreciation and Gross amount excluding depreciation aren't reduced by the Business %., and
- Business kilometres travelled field contents are not lodged with the ATO.
Other changes are the:
- you can enter expenses in $c
- Repairs and maintenance renamed to Repair expenses.
- Totals in this form are not lodged with the ATO. They are used to to cross reference amounts in the individual income tax return.
Schedule W - work-related expenses
If the ATO has expressly advised your practice, or an agent of your practice, to lodge the Schedule W where work-related expenses for your individual clients exceed $300, then you need to check what your RSD default rollover requirements are for Schedule W and alter them accordingly. See Work related expenses - ATO Schedule (W) .
Under these circumstances, the ATO expects to receive both the Schedule W and the Deductions schedule.
CCH References
16-450 Deduction for self-education expenses
16-460 Limit on self-education expenses deduction