Haven | Small business expenses - what can you claim?

Business

Small business expenses – what can you claim?

3 MIN READ August 5, 2020

If you own a small business, you probably know all about expenses. But if you’re just starting out, there might be a few things that you didn’t know that you could claim as a business expense. We’ve put together some helpful information on business expenses…

Because businesses get taxed on their income minus any business expenses, you can claim back all or a portion of your expenses. It’s important to keep records of everything, as all receipts, including those for items under $50.00, need to be kept for seven years. A good way to keep track is to take a photo of your receipts and store them online in a secure place.

So what business expenses can you claim?

Expenses you can claim include:

vehicle expenses, transport costs and travel for business purposes
rent paid on business premises
depreciation on items like computers and office furniture
interest on borrowing money for the business
some insurance premiums
work-related journals and magazines
membership of professional associations
home office expenses
work-related mobile phones and phone bills
stationery
work uniforms
tax agent’s fees

What about entertainment expenses?

Entertainment expenses include any activity involving food and beverage, including client gifts.

You can claim for entertainment expenses, but these are generally only 50% deductible due to the private element involved.

There are some instances where entertainment expenses are 100% deductible if they’re entirely business related, such as meals an employee buys while travelling on business, or food and drink provided at a conference that lasts at least 4 hours.

There are quite a few very specific conditions for 100% deductible entertainment expenses though so it pays to chat to our accounting team.

What can I claim for motor vehicle use?

Vehicle expenses can be claimed based on the amount of business use compared to private use.

If you’re a sole trader, you have two options for claiming motor vehicle expenses:

Mileage claim – keep a logbook to track all business use. At the end of the year, you can claim the mileage at 79c per kilometre for the first 14,000 kilometres.
Claim actual costs – keep track of all running costs, including petrol, Warrant of Fitness, maintenance, insurance and registration. You will need to keep a logbook for 3 months to determine the business use vs private use – this should include the start date and odometer reading on that day, the date, distance and reason for each business journey, and the end date of the 90 day period and the odometer reading on that day.

For motor vehicle use, you can’t claim things like parking infringements or speeding tickets.

What about my home office?

If you use an area of your home for your business, you can claim a portion of the household

expenses such as rates, insurance, mortgage interest, rent and power.

If you have a dedicated space, you can claim based on the size of the space compared to the total floor space of your home. If the area is used both personally and for business you’ll need to take into account the amount of time spent on your business activities and the area used. Keep a record of these expenses so you can access them easily at the end of the year.

If you’re not sure what you can claim, or you’d like help sorting out your expenses, our friendly accounting team is happy to help! Get in touch with us today.

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How To Enter.Complete a financial review with any of Haven’s advisers for any service during the entry period and you will receive one entry into the Competition.
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The Prize must be taken as stated and no compensation will be payable if the Winner is unable to use the Prize as stated.
The Promoter (Haven Financial Advisers Limited) will not be liable for any prize(s) that do not reach the winners for reasons beyond the Promoter’s reasonable control. Where a prize is being supplied by a third party, the Promoter accepts no responsibility in connection with the provision of the prize, including without limitation, the failure of the winner to receive ownership of, or use of, the prize or any performance issues associated with the prize.
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Prizes may be subject to additional terms and conditions imposed by a third party.
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The Haven Travel Promotion is only open to legal residents of New Zealand who are eighteen (18) years of age or older.

Disqualified Participants’ are: (a) all Haven Financial Advisers employees (b) all people under the age of 18 years.

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3. How To Enter.

Complete a financial review with any of Haven’s advisers for any service during the entry period and you will receive one entry into the Competition.

4. Drawing the Winner

The final winner will be drawn on Monday 5th June via random selection by Haven Financial Advisers.

Only the person who originally entered the Promotion can be awarded the prize.
The Winner will be determined by Haven Financial Advisers and will be final and no correspondence will be entered into.
The Winner will be notified by email, phone (voice or text), mail or in person. Where attempts to contact the Winner fail (eg when the Winner cannot be contacted by phone after three attempts or mail sent is returned) Haven Financial Advisers will select another winner. If, after successful notification, the prize is not collected within two months of being announced, it will be regarded as forfeit. (Note: 3 attempts to contact the Winner will include individual calls to any numbers provided at the time of entry.
Where the Winner is required to claim the prize in person, they must provide proper identification (eg driver’s licence, passport, birth certificate).

5. The Prize

The Prize (a travel voucher valued at $4,000 NZD) is not redeemable for cash or transferable. In the event that the Prize specified in the Competition becomes unavailable for any reason, Haven Financial Advisers may substitute a prize of like or equal value.
The Winner takes the Prize entirely at his/her own risk and indemnifies Haven Financial Advisers in respect of any claim for any accident, injury, property damage or loss of life that may occur in connection with the prize. The Winner is responsible for all insurance, tax or other costs that may be associated with the Prize. Where the Prize has associated terms and conditions the Winner accepts the Prize subject to those terms and conditions and restrictions.
The Prize must be taken as stated and no compensation will be payable if the Winner is unable to use the Prize as stated.
The Promoter (Haven Financial Advisers Limited) will not be liable for any prize(s) that do not reach the winners for reasons beyond the Promoter’s reasonable control. Where a prize is being supplied by a third party, the Promoter accepts no responsibility in connection with the provision of the prize, including without limitation, the failure of the winner to receive ownership of, or use of, the prize or any performance issues associated with the prize.
The Promoter will not be liable for failure to provide (or delay in providing) the Prize resulting from any events, circumstances or causes beyond its reasonable control, including but not limited to acts of god (natural disasters), acts of war or terrorism, national emergencies, issues of public health and safety, pandemic, mechanical breakdown, industry disputes, riots or failure of communication or power supply or voluntary or involuntary compliance with any regulation, law or order of any government.
Prizes may be subject to additional terms and conditions imposed by a third party (for example, vouchers may have additional terms and conditions and/or an expiry date or in the case of travel, additional terms and conditions may be imposed by airlines, service providers and venues).
The Promoter will not be responsible for any loss or damage suffered by entrants or anyone else as a result of, arising out of, or in any way connected with the Promotion or its prizes.

6. Social Media & Marketing

Where the Promotion is conducted across social media: a. Entrants’ conduct must comply with the rules of that social media platform. b. The Promotion is in no way sponsored, endorsed or administered by, or associated with Facebook, Twitter, Instagram or Snapchat. These social media platforms are in no way responsible for any aspect of the Promotion.
By entering this Promotion, entrants agree to the use of their names, photographs and likeness for promotional/advertising purposes, and agree to make themselves reasonably available for this purpose. Any copyright associated with an entry will be owned by the Promoter.
The Promoter collects and holds personal information provided by entrants for the purposes of administering this Promotion and for future Promoter promotional purposes. All personal information provided by entrants will be held by the Promoter and will not be provided to third parties unless otherwise specifically set out. Under the Privacy Act 2020, entrants have the right to access and correct their personal information.