Get yourself a better accountant who can work / interpret the rules to your advantage.
Got 16K return from 36k paid. therefore net cost of rating was 20K. I know others who have done the same.
A few points :
If you search enough for the right accountant, you will one that will claim anything. In this day and age of self assesment, it is not his problem, you can pretty much claim anything, and when you sign the return the responsibility is all yours to prove the claim is valid ( for 5 years )
As already mentioned above the rule is black and white, the only grey is what Jetstar and ( I think
VB ) guys have used and that is they have a signed contract in their hand stating they need the rating as part of their conditions of employment, according to Simon Luton ( AFAP tax lawyer ) this is sufficient, do Tiger give you a work contract/agreement prior to you getting the endo ? If the answer is no, you could be in a world of hurt
It does'nt matter how many guys ahve gotten away with it, if you're the poor schmuck that gets caught its a 100% fine plus interest...ouch
I'm pretty sure " I know others who have done the same " won't stand up in court or at the ATO audit.
As an aside, the ATO has challenged 2-3 AFAP members ( all
VB I think ) and the ATO lost with their usual statement " this does not set a precedence "
Galdian, spot on, the accountant has zero accountability ( no pun intended ) " yes your honour, jo bloggs told me that his claim was legit and see, he signed here "
The accountant will be glad to help you out though if you get an audit, at $200/hr.
Delta, the amount you get back will depend on your income in the year you claim, if you were in the top tax bracket you would get about 46% back