Costs and reimbursements
Store receipts with a short note about the work purpose, any private use and whether Defence or another employer reimbursed part of the cost.
Watch — keep the story behind the return
ADF Members: One Simple Folder Could Make Tax Time Easier
A simple annual folder can keep the receipts, statements and dates that connect your Defence career, later work, property and investments to an accurate tax return.
What this video covers
- Keep work expenses and reimbursement records together as they arise
- Retain rental-property statements, loan records and change-of-use dates
- Save dividend, managed-fund, share and capital-gains documents
- Keep prior returns and assessments available for review or amendment
Build one folder around the tax year
Paper or digital is fine—the value comes from keeping the evidence and the context together.
Property and investments
Keep annual statements, purchase and sale documents, loan records and dates that explain a change in how an asset was used.
Returns and assessments
Prior returns and notices of assessment provide the starting point if an earlier year needs to be reviewed or amended.
A practical folder structure
Use clear categories so nothing has to be reconstructed at the end of the year.
Income and Defence documents
Save income statements, allowance details, deployment records and relevant medical-entitlement information.
Work-related expenses
Keep receipts, usage calculations, travel records and reimbursement evidence.
Property and investments
Keep rental-agent statements, interest records, dividend statements, annual tax statements and disposal documents.
Prior-year material
Retain lodged returns, notices of assessment and supporting schedules for the required record-keeping period and longer where an asset or dispute requires it.
Common questions about tax records
Can I keep tax records electronically?
Yes. The ATO accepts electronic records when they are clear, accessible and contain the required information. Photos or scans can make a phone-based annual folder practical.
Does paying for an item automatically make it deductible?
No. You still need a sufficient connection to earning assessable income, must not have been fully reimbursed and must apply any private-use or decline-in-value rules.
Why keep prior returns and assessments?
They help identify carried-forward information, compare treatment between years and provide the starting point if an amendment or review is needed.
Video transcript
The supplied transcript has been lightly edited for punctuation, clarity, names and Australian spelling.
A Defence career can finish, but your financial story does not finish with it: transitioning into a brand-new career, building wealth through a rental property, shares, investments, capital gains and sometimes a tax return from years ago that deserves another look.
Here is something many people get wrong. Paying for something does not automatically make it tax-deductible. A valid work-related claim depends on why you spent the money and whether it was connected to earning your income. It also depends on whether you were reimbursed and whether you can support it with records.
One return can involve a lot more than income and deductions. For the Defence community, the story includes years of changing property, investments and financial circumstances. That is why specialist experience matters.
DefenceTax works with veterans and families across Australia because everyone has a different story, and tax works best when someone understands the story behind the numbers. We understand the story behind the return. Specialist tax support for the Defence community.
General information only. Tax treatment depends on the applicable law, relevant dates, supporting records and your individual circumstances.