Originally Posted by Capt Hollywood
I have related this story to many pilots over the years and am yet to meet another who successfully made a claim on his/her tax return. I trained in 1997.
CH
Pleased to meet you CH, I'm GB. You got your deduction allowed because I took the ATO to the Administrative Appeals Tribunal in 1989 for doing the same thing, and I won. The ATO reckoned I couldn't claim my flying training costs and I reckoned I could. They slugged me for the tax avoided, plus interest, plus penalty, and I had to pay whilst the appeal process was determined. There was a lot at stake because they tried to do me for 1990 as well, it involved alot of money. However we agreed beforehand that, as the elements of the two cases were the same, I would only run with the first year, and whatever the result of this case would be applied to the other.
The paperwork for the hearing was thicker than the flight manuals for the S76, B212 and B412 that I now fly, combined. To cut a long story short, I won, and they didn't take it further, so I got my money back plus interest within 2 weeks. They sure got a surprise when a young-buck wannabe helicopter pilot (as I was then) beat the might of the ATO. Best of all, they have never audited me in the years since.
So if we ever cross paths in the Qantas business lounge, I reckon you might shout me an ice cold Crown Lager or two. Any helicopter pilot can afford the prices in there, whatever predicament they might be facing with the ATO for filing a shonky tax return.