If you get an income support payment, you need to tell us about work related allowances you and your partner get that are assessable income.
Whether an allowance is assessable income depends on what you get it for and how often you get it.
Some allowances are exempt income and you don’t need to tell us about them. They don’t affect your payment amount.
Which allowances to include in your employment income report
If they are part of your employment conditions
There are many types of allowances you might get as part of your employment conditions. You must report them to us as employment income.
Allowances for working conditions or special duties you perform are assessable income. The following are some common examples of these:
Working conditions
- Danger allowance
- Height allowance
- Dirt money
- Site allowance
- Shift allowance
- Location allowance
- On-call allowance
- Restriction allowance.
Allowances for special duties
- First aid allowance
- Safety allowance
- Trade allowance
- Leading hand
- Fire Warden
- Harassment Contact Officer.
If they are for ongoing work related expenses
Allowances paid regularly throughout the year for ongoing work related expenses are exempt income. This means you don’t need to report them as employment income.
Some examples of ongoing work related expenses are:
- Tool allowance
- Laundry allowance
- Working from home allowance
- Fuel and travel allowances paid regularly to cover ongoing expenses.
If they are for one-off or irregular work related expenses
Allowances for one-off or irregular work related expenses are usually exempt income. This means you don’t need to report them as employment income.
But, if you’re paid more than the amount of the expense, you’ll need to report the leftover amount. For example, if you get paid $100 to travel for work but only spend $60, you need to include $40 as income in your income report.
Some examples of allowances for one-off or irregular work related expenses are:
- Fuel allowance
- Fare allowance
- Car allowance
- Cents per kilometre allowance
- Travel allowance
- Accommodation allowance
- Overtime meal allowance
- Uniform allowance.
There are many other types of allowances that aren’t listed here. If you’re unsure about an allowance you get, contact us on your regular payment line.
What to report
If the allowance is for working conditions or special duties, you need to report the gross amount of the allowance. That is the amount you get before tax and other deductions are taken out. You’ll find this amount on your payslip or you can ask your employer about it.
If you are reporting a one-off or irregular work related expense allowance, you just need to report the amount you had left-over after you paid for the expense.
You need to check all allowance amounts pre-filled in your employment income report. We get this information from your employer but need you to confirm it’s correct. If you need to change the amount, you can do this before you submit your report.
Read more about reporting your employment income.