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employment-taxAnswered

Why do overtime meal expenses in Australia become deductible only when the allowance and the records line up instead of whenever work ran late and food cost money?

MW
Mitchell Ward
June 7, 2026 3,598 views 1 answer
Australiaovertime mealallowanceATO

Employees in Australia often assume that if they had to stay late and buy dinner for work, the tax system should obviously count it. Please explain why the ATO is more conditional than that, why the overtime allowance matters so much, and why running late is not by itself the same thing as having a deductible meal.

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