Busy Aussies love their food being delivered! and since COVID-19 has been in our lives, the obsession is growing!
Over $3 billion dollars is spent on food and drink deliveries through companies like Door Dash, Uber Eats and Menulog.
Such food delivery obsession has led to an increase for delivery driver services around the country.
Are you a delivery food driver?
To be working under this type of industry, you need an ABN (Australian Business Number) as you'll be paid a contractor. This means you are responsible for the possible tax liability on such earning activity.
Here's are some Food Delivery Driver Basics what you need to know about reporting the Australian Taxation Office.
Working as a delivery driver under this type of food delivery service requires you to declare money/income earned from your efforts, this is considered as assessable income. Which means you must talk about this on your individual income tax return.
In this industry there are a range of tax deductions you can claim too.
Some general deductions such as:
Mobile phone bills; Car expenses; PPE - personal protective equipment; Costs of cleaning & servicing your car; tolls; parking fees; licensing & service fees payable to the service company; certain insurances; tax agent fees; bank fees (from maintaining as separate account for your food delivery service work).
IMPORTANT: If there are deductions in the above list that are relevant to you; remember the 3 golden rules to claiming a tax deduction:
The expenditure relates to the business earning activity;
You were not reimbursed by anyone for the out of pocket expense;
You have evidence, tax receipts and invoices to prove the purchase.
Please be aware of the above and in addition, that the Australian Taxation Office is watching this type of industry and along with businesses in the gig (on demand) sharing economy like Uber, Airbnb, Esty.
The tricky part to all of this is the bookkeeping and record keeping.
As mentioned it is vital that you keep your records to your purchases necessary in order for you to earn this type of income. More importantly now is the time to reconcile & review the amounts you received as income and the expenses you paid.
List those amounts and their details out on paper or into an excel spreadsheet and the total the figures from 1 July 2020 to 30 June 2021.
Win for Business understands the ins and outs of the delivery driver industry.
Come have a chat and let's get your money management and reporting requirements delivered on time!
