List of things I can claim back from my tax?

You only have to pay the Medicare levy if you are eligible for Medicare either because you are a citizen, PR or Kiwi or because you are entitled to benefits because of reciprocal healthcare arrangements with your country of citizenship (UK, Republic of Ireland, Sweden, the Netherlands, Finland, Italy, Belgium, Malta, Slovenia or Norway). If you're not from one of those countries, you don't have to pay it.

Tax deductions are a complex area and you really should take advice from an accountant or tax agent. The basic rule is that you can claim expenses that are specifically and directly related to your job but you can't claim rent, clothing (unless it's special safety clothing e.g. safety boots, safety glasses), parking, travel to and from work (though you can claim for travel between multiple sites on the same day), tools (but usually only depreciation on them) etc. Talk to an expert - in your occupation, it will probably be well worth any expense (and the expense itself is tax deductible).

Tools are used in the process of conducting your profession, therefore they are tax deductible. You need to keep receipts of this.

If you are required to wear a uniform for work, the cost of this is a deduction, and laundry expenses of up to $150 can be claimed if you do not have receipts.

Training and/or education expenses, the first $250 is at your own cost, but after that it is a tax deductible item. If you have kept no receipts at all, you can claim $300 as a general deduction for which you do not need to provide evidence.

Regarding tax offsets, you do not get the low income tax offset as you make too much money. If you have private health insurance, you do not have to pay the medicare levy surcharge. If you pay a premium on it or if your employer does for you, you may be eligible for an offset there. Furthermore, if you have medical expenses over $2,060 for the year for which you have kept records, 20% of anything above $2,060 is a medical expenses tax offset.

There may be other deductions that are applicable. It is best to arrange a meeting with your local tax agent, as assessment needs to be made whether you are a resident for tax purposes or not. This will affect your tax return, as non-residents for tax purposes are not eligible for the tax free thresshold.

Regarding travel to and from work, this is not a deduction. If you travel from place to work to another place of work (if not reimbursed by the employer), this is a deduction. If you travel from your home or place of work to an education institution (uni or college) and/or back, this will be considered a taxable deduction. If you travel by car, there are several different ways of determining the amount of the deduction, but again this is best discussed with a local tax agent.

For an explanation of what you can claim, read through the instructions for form 1040 including instructions for schedule A - download at irs.gov You get a standard deduction on a joint return of $10,700 for 2007 - the number generally goes up every year. Unless your itemized deductions, including donations, is more that that, you get no benefit from making donations. If you itemize, then you get credit from the first dollar of donations, but be aware it isn't at the original cost if it's items rather than cash, it's the current used fair market value of the items - e.g. what they would sell for at a flea market or thrift shop. There are special rules for some items, like cars. Things you bought for work - you might be able to claim them, but again only if you itemize. And you'd have to subtract 2% of your total adjusted gross income first, and could only claim the amount over that. Child support is never deductible. You say you have joint custody - is that joint LEGAL custody or joint PHYSICAL custody? If your son spends more nights during the year with his dad than with you, then his dad can claim him, and you only can if his dad lets you - it has nothing to do with the amount of child support you pay.

Here is the ATO's guide for building and construction employees: http://www.ato.gov.au/content/00280982.htm

Remember this is a guide only, and you need to have genuinely incurred the costs before being eligible for a deduction, as well as meeting other eligibility criteria.