Education Tax Refund - Keep Your Receipts to Claim Educational Expenses

In order to help parents meet the costs of their children's education, eligible families will receive a 50 per cent refund every year for eligible education expenses up to:

• $375 per primary school child, per year
• $750 per secondary school child, per year

Eligible families will be able to recoup the cost of key purchases for their children's education, including:

• laptops;
• home computers and associated costs;
• home internet connections;
• printers;
• education software;
• trade tools for use at school;
• school text books; and
• stationery.

About 1.3 million families across Australia, with 2.7 million students, stand to benefit from the Education Tax Refund and get some much-needed relief from the costs of educating their kids.

Families receiving Family Tax Benefit (Part A) with children in primary or secondary studies, or whose school children receive Youth Allowance or another relevant payment, will be eligible for the Education Tax Refund.

The refundable tax offset will apply to expenses incurred from 1 July 2008.

• Families should keep their receipts for expenditure on these items from 1 July 2008 to enable them to claim the benefits through their tax returns at the end of the 2008-09 financial year.
• Parents will then be able to claim 50 per cent of these expenses through their tax return.

Parents who do not normally lodge an income tax return can also claim the refund through the Australian Taxation Office. See the ATO website for details.

Disclaimer: My Local Guide disclaims responsibility for the currency and accuracy of information in this article. We recommend you take independent expert advice and check the accuracy of information in this article before acting on the information contained within it, since the information may change without warning.

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