You can claim most expenses you incur in running your business as deductions to reduce your assessable income. If you incur an expense that relates to both business and private use of an asset, you can only claim the business portion of those expenses.

Claim an immediate deduction for working or operating expenses you incur for the everyday running of your business (such as office stationery, business telephone/internet, rent of business premises and wages).

For assets that have a longer life – such as tools, furniture, plant and equipment, many businesses can claim an immediate write off for items up to $150,000 cost. There are limits on the instant asset write of motor vehicles.
There are also exclusions of some assets from the instant asset write off.

Listed below are some possible tax deductions that you may have overlooked:

Sunscreen, laundry, dry cleaning, briefcase, self-education; home office electricity, printer ink, copy paper, stationery, protective work boots, protective clothing, subscriptions, salary package fees, income protection insurance, personal contributions to superannuation, mobile phone use, internet use, seminars, conferences, specific investment advice.

The tax deductibility of your expenses depends if you purchased them for work use or for use in your business and the nature of your work. Remember to only claim the work related portion of your expenses and keep your purchase invoices and receipts.

Viability is defined as the ability to survive.
For a business, this is linked to financial performance and position.

A business is viable when either:
• It is returning a profit that is sufficient to provide a return to the business owner while also meeting its commitments to business creditors.
• It has sufficient cash resources to sustain itself through a period when it is not returning a profit.

If you are thinking of starting a business, it is important to do your market research, prepare a budget and forecast projections, as accurately as you can. If you are already in business, you have some figures to analyse to determine your business viability.