Why I built Deduct AU
Most people I know are scared of the ATO. Not because they're doing anything wrong — because they don't have enough information to know that they're not.
I moved to Australia in 2023. Like most people arriving from somewhere else, I had no idea how the tax system here worked. Over time, I started learning — and what I found surprised me.
The system actually supports you. If you worked from home, studied to advance your career, or bought equipment to do your job, you can reduce your taxable income. Not a grey-area loophole — standard ATO deductions that millions of Australians are entitled to claim.
But most people I knew weren't claiming them. Not because they chose not to — they were scared. Scared they'd get something wrong, claim something they shouldn't, and end up on the wrong side of the ATO. So they either skipped it entirely, or paid $200 to an accountant to do something that, once you understand the rules, isn't that complicated.
The rules, it turns out, are public. The ATO publishes exactly what you can claim, for every occupation and employment type. The problem is that those rules update every financial year — so even if you learn them once, you have to go back and check again every July.
What I built
That's the part I automated. You answer the same questions every year — your occupation, your employment type, your expenses — and the tool pulls the current rules from trusted ATO sources and tells you exactly where you stand. What's claimable, what isn't, and why. Updated for the current financial year, every year.
It's not a replacement for a tax agent when things get complicated. But for the majority of salaried Australians with straightforward work expenses, it removes the fear, the research, and the $200 bill.
I'm John Hansen, a software developer based in Australia. If you want to connect or have feedback, find me on LinkedIn.