The education tax refund is an initiative brought in by the Rudd Government
, first introduced in the 2009 tax year. As it is still quite new many clients are still quite unaware of its existence and are not maximising their claims. The education refund comes from Kevin Rudds original election promise of one laptop for every child, the final legislation is quite different to the original plan but if anything that is a good thing. You can claim education expenses such as;
New computer equipment (like computers & printers)
Computer repairs
Internet access
Books and educational materials
Private tuition (but not school fees of any sort)
To be eligible you must be either eligible for or receive family tax benefit A and have a child in either primary school or secondary school you can claim;
up to $750 of eligible expenses for each primary school student
up to$1500 of eligible expenses for each secondary school student
If you meet the criteria then you will receive 50% of your claim back (either as an additional refund or it will offset your tax bill for the year) even if you have no other reason to lodge a tax return you can lodge a claim for the education tax refund!
A common misconception we are finding with clients is they think that if their children attend private school they are unable to claim the refund; this is not true, the refund applies equally to Government and Private school students. It is also important to note that if you have a greater claim than the limits you can roll over the remainder to the next year.