For individuals incurring legal fees, the expense incurred would not be deductible unless there is a clear nexus with the expense being incurred in deriving assessable income (for example, in relation to an investment property). In other cases, the expense may be private in nature so a deduction would not be available in any case.
In addition, the following types of legal expenses are not deductible under the general deductibility provisions because they are of a capital or of a private nature. Instead they are made deductible under a specific provision in tax law:

• the preparation of an income tax return, the disputing of a tax assessment and the obtaining of professional tax advice
• the preparation of lease documents
• certain borrowing expenses, and certain mortgage discharge expenses

Other common legal expenses are considered below.

Business lease expenses

The cost of preparing, registering and stamping a lease is deductible if the taxpayer is using or will use the property for earning assessable income. The lease payments themselves will be deductible under the general deduction rules, and are therefore subject to special prepayment (ask us for more information on this).

Valuation expenses

If valuation fees are paid to help decide whether to buy a business, these are generally capital costs and not an allowable deduction. However if the valuation is used to support an application to borrow money for use in the business, those expenses can be claimed as borrowing costs immediately if under $100 or over the life of the loan, or five years from the date of the loan, whichever is shorter.

Fines and breaches of law

Deductions are specifically denied for fines or penalties (however described) that are imposed as a consequence of a breach of any Australian or foreign law. This rule doe not apply to administratively imposed penalties such as general interest charge (which the ATO applies to unpaid tax liabilities) and penalties for underestimating GST instalments. However, while the fines and penalties may be specifically disallowed, the costs incurred in defending the action may be deductible.

Evicting a tenant

A taxpayer may acquire premises (all or a portion of) that were leased to a tenant of the former owner. Any legal expenses incurred trying to evict the tenant will not be deductible. This expense becomes part of the cost of acquiring the property and a capital expense for income tax purposes. Arguably, the expense could form part of the “cost base” of the property, being expenditure of a capital nature incurred in establishing the taxpayer’s title to, or a right over, the asset. 

Expenses that usually can be claimed

Circumstances where legal fees are usually deductible include:

As can be seen, the task of determining whether a legal expense can be tricky. Contact us if you require assistance.