Can used books bought off Amazon be claimed as a tax deduction in Australia?
"VAT = Value Added Tax (as an Aussie think ""GST"") This is applicable in Britain. Basically, if you were in Britain, and if you could claim VAT as a deduction, that invoice is not sufficient proof to make the claim. But you're in Oz so it doesn't apply to you in any case. For work-related deductions like book purchases, see http://www.ato.gov.au/individuals/content.asp?doc=/content/00216829.htm&pc=001/002/068/001/002&mnu=&mfp=&st=&cy=1  Issues such as the books being second hand or purchased online are not cited in the instructions as relevant/limiting factors. In fact, if you really want to get into the nitty gritty, you could claim the work-related proportion of your internet access fees as a deduction (question D5 instructions, above, cover that as well)." Yes, you can.  That the books were purchased from abroad is irrelevant: you incurred an expense in the course of earning your income. If the books are expensive (>$300 per set iirc) you will need to deprecate them over a reasonable life time rather than claiming the entire amount up front. It doesn't matter whether what you got was a VAT Invoice; as long as you have some reasonable documentation of the expense you're ok. Yes, if they meet the ATO's criteria. Books, periodicals and digital information If the item cost less than $300 you can claim an immediate deduction where it satisfies all of the following requirements: http://www.ato.gov.au/Individuals/Income-and-deductions/Deductions-you-can-claim/Other-deductions/Books,-periodicals-and-digital-information/ Alternatively They may be a self-education expense http://www.ato.gov.au/Individuals/Income-and-deductions/Deductions-you-can-claim/Self-education-expenses/ A Further Alternative  They could fall into the tool, equipment or other asset category if they are for a professional library (this can include a home office). http://www.ato.gov.au/Individuals/Income-and-deductions/Deductions-you-can-claim/Tools,-equipment-and-other-assets/ I understand this is an old question although given the dead link in the above answer and the new resources this answer might prove helpful for others coming across this question.
"Books would be considered Personal-Use Property according to Canada's income tax laws.  The most detailed IT I was able to find is IT-332R, which says: GAINS AND LOSSES 3. A gain on the disposition of personal-use property is normally a capital gain within the meaning of paragraph 39(1)(a). Where the property is a principal residence, the gain > is computed under paragraph 40(2)(b) or (c). 4. Under subparagraph 40(2)(g)(iii), a loss on a disposition of personal-use property, other than listed personal property, is deemed to be nil. [...] This part of the bulletin indicates that a gain might be considered a capital gain - not income.  However, you don't get to book a loss as a capital loss.  This is the first hint that your book sale - which is actually an exempt capital loss - shouldn't go on your tax return unless it's one of the ""listed"" items: LISTED PERSONAL PROPERTY 7. Listed personal property is defined in paragraph 54(e) to mean personal-use property that is all or any portion of, or any interest in or right to, any (a) print, etching, drawing, painting, sculpture, or other similar work of art, (b) jewellery, (c) rare folio, rare manuscript, or rare book, (d) stamp, or (e) coin. So unless you're selling rare books, the disposition (sale) of them is essentially exempt as income, regardless of whether you sold it at a profit or at a loss.  If it is rare, then you might be able to consider it a capital loss, which doesn't help you much unless you had other capital gains, but you can carry over capital losses to future years. There's also a newer IT related to hobbies and ""collecting"" items, IT-334R2.  This one says: 11. In order for any activity or pursuit to be regarded as a source of income, there must be a reasonable expectation of profit. Where such an expectation does not exist (as is the case with most hobbies), neither amounts received nor expenses incurred are included in the income computation for tax purposes and any excess of expenses over receipts is a personal or living expense, the deduction of which is denied by paragraph 18(1)(h). On the other hand, if the hobby or pastime results in receipts of revenue in excess of expenses, that fact is a strong indication that the hobby is a venture with an expectation of profit; if so, the net income may be taxable as income from a business. The current version of IT-504, Visual Artists and Writers, discusses the concept of ""a reasonable expectation of profit"" in greater detail. Where a hobby consists of collecting personal-use property or listed personal property, dispositions should be accounted for as described in the current version of IT-332, Personal-Use Property. (emphasis mine) In other words, if it's not the type of thing where you'd make a tax deduction when you bought it in the first place, then you clearly don't need to report it as income when you sell it. Just to be absolutely clear here: The fact that you are selling them at a loss is not actually what's important here. What's important is that, if the books aren't collectibles, then you would have had no expectation of profit.  If you did have that expectation then you could have made a tax deduction when you first purchased them. So in this case, it is probably not necessary for you to report the income; however, for the benefit of other readers, in some cases you might need to report it under ""other income"" or book it as a capital gain/loss, depending on what those personal items are and whether or not you made a net profit." "Give the type of books I usually read (science fiction) I don't care about the loss of ""independent"" book stores or the big box book stores.  Some of the best books I read are by small time authors that probably don't have time to shop their books around or tried and can't get their works published by a big name.  Instead they can sell their books on Amazon for a few bucks.  They get some money, I get something to read, and Amazon gets a cut for bringing us together.  It is fucking fantastic.  If Amazon starts to screw either the reader or the author too much we simply move our business elsewhere.  As a bonus I don't end up with piles of novels that nobody wants." The article mentions it briefly, but this is likely a defensive patent. So much of Amazon's business comes from cross-checking or reading reviews in retail stores. I bet they just want to make sure people can still do that. Apparently Amazon's legal team that is battling to prevent online retailers from getting taxed was not consulted as to whether an idea like this would look *really* bad for their case. It's brilliant, but a wee bit diabolical. Brick and mortar retailers really have no recourse against something like this. But maybe smaller shops are able to offer something else to differentiate, to make up for their inability to match Amazon's return policy? For example, maybe it lets them charge less or provide custom goods.  Amazon is taking away that avenue for differentiation. I get Amazon's point: they want to provide a consistent experience. But it's pretty convenient in that it hurts smaller sellers more than bigger sellers and Amazon is the biggest seller of all. The relevant IRS publication is pub 463. Note that there are various conditions and exceptions, but it all starts with business necessity. Is it necessary for you to work from the UK? If you're working from the UK because you wanted to take a vacation, but still have to work, and would do the same work without being in the UK - then you cannot deduct travel expenses. It sounds to me like this is the case here. Unfortunately this is something that should have been determined prior to the book tour. Your tax advisor or accountant could have assisted you in making sure you collected the documentation you needed.  You are going to have to sit down with your advisor with the documentation you have and determine what you can prove. It is not a limitation of ebooks.  Limitations are imposed by Amazon (and others).  The large publishers likely tell Amazon they won't let Amazon sell their e-content without draconian policies.  However, I beleive Amazon includes draconian policies even on ebooks without such customer hostile publisher demands so that makes it difficult for Amazon to claim they are not choosing the draconian policies.  I sell my ebook through leanpub http://leanpub.com/managementmatters  You buy it, you own it.  Leanpub doesn't go around deleting it from your device.  The draconian policies are choices by publishers and retailers, not some condition of ebooks, in the way the articles states. What Amazon is doing is called the Grey Market and normal bricks and mortar retailers do this as well.   For example, buying Irish Whiskey might be expensive at all the shops in Australia because the licensed distribution companies set a high price for Australia.  One retailer may simply buy Irish Whiskey off the retail shelf in South America, ship to Australia, pay import duties, and undercut all the competition.  This happens for all sorts of products all the time.   It destroys the channel distribution control that consumer goods companies have where they control distribution and set the prices consumers have to pay. "If it's work you'd be producing specifically for this organization, that would not be deductable. Per Publication 526, Charitable Deductions, ""You can't deduct the value of your time or services, including: … The value of income lost while you work as an unpaid volunteer for a qualified organization."" On the other hand, if you were say an author of a published book or something (not specifically written for this organization), you could donate a copy of the book and probably deduct its fair market value (or perhaps only your basis, if it's your business's inventory)." For larger items such as cars this is certainly possible; I've donated a car before (in Canada) and got a tax receipt that was probably worth more than I would have got from a dealer for the car. However with donations of this kind there are two obstacles: Two other options for you to consider. Most medium towns have used book shops which you can sell them to. If the used book shops don't want them then your books really aren't worth enough to be worrying about, in which case see option two: give the books to a charity or thrift shop and don't worry about the receipt. Sometimes a nice feeling is the best return you will get. "Wait a second, I can't be the first to notice this,  near the top of the article: The internal contents, however, were often the exact same English words being read by their classmates buying high-priced US editions.  but later farther down: In cases where goods were actually produced abroad—  this brings up the very definition of *produced* for ""intellectual property"", to my mind the mere fact that it is printed outside of the country is simply a logistical convenience.  If in fact it was written by a U.S. author living in the U.S. then it *wasn't* actually produced abroad.  Same goes for U.S. *produced* software in foreign manufactured goods." "I doubt it. In the States you would only owe tax if you sold such an item at a profit. ""garage sales"" aren't taxable as they are nearly always common household items and sale is  more about clearing out one's attic/garage than about profit. Keep in mind, if I pay for a book, and immediately sell it for the same price, there's no tax due, why would tax be due if I sell for a loss?" "Answering a more general question:  are financial services firms worth the money?  It really depends on the person.  Some can contribute regularly to index funds, and do the asset allocation on their own.  They are comfortable buying and selling various funds and there is really not that much management to do a Bogle like ""3 fund portfolio"".  All that is needed is an occasional re-balance.  This person probably does not need a firm like UBS or many of the others out there. Some do some active picking of funds and stocks, and also some indexing.  Again they are comfortable in doing the right thing and probably don't need a manager. There are others, however, that need a manager.  A friend of mine pulled all of his money out of the market when Trump was elected.  He missed out on some nice growth.  The extra percentage point that he paid to have an adviser would have been well worth it. For people who get spooked easily by the market and need things explained over and over, an advisory service is great.  My mom falls in that category.  I thank God every day for her service as she would otherwise call me with the same investment questions every other quarter." This question is largely opinion based but I wanted to balance out the people jumping on you. There are lots of factors that go into salary/pay, such as what you contribute to the company and whather you go above or beyond whats expected of you. I would say seniority is one factor, or at least there is a case to be made that it is important. If someone has worked 5 years for me, that is five years that I have not had to search, interview, and train a replacement. I am not a business owner but I do employ people and when someone quits its an extremely stressful process. Not having to go through that, again in my opinion, is worth a small bump in pay. I cant comment on if its fair or not. That is opinion. What is fact is that whenever a broad group of people are given a pay raise for arbitrary reasons and other employees arent, its creates discontent, it hurts morale, employees leave, and in severe cases the business becomes crippled. So Im not sure if its fair, but is it a bad idea? Generally. See here and I highly recommend going here for anyone who thinks dramatically raising pay 'because its the right thing to do' is a good idea