Record keeping for PSI

Recording your income and expenses is essential to understanding what income goes through your business and why. You need to keep records explaining all transactions that relate to your tax affairs, including PSI.

Generally, you need to keep records of most transactions, in English, for 5 years. The 5 years starts from when you prepared or obtained the records, or completed the transactions (or acts they relate to), whichever is the later.

When working out if you receive PSI, you need to keep records that show:

  • whether the income is PSI
  • how you worked out if the PSI rules apply
  • which expenses apply to any PSI received, and
  • the deductions you can claim against the PSI.

If more than one individual is generating PSI, you need to keep records relating to each individual.

The types of records you may need to keep include:

  • tax invoices
  • time sheets submitted to the client or labour hire firm
  • contracts with schedules
  • diaries detailing what work was performed, when and for whom
  • emails evidencing contract negotiation
  • bank statements and receipts
  • vehicle logbooks.

Personal services income

Steps Progress

What is PSI?

4 mins

Is the income PSI?

5 mins

Income that is not PSI

9 mins

Whose PSI is it?

7 mins

Working out if the PSI rules apply: self-assess as a personal service business (PSB)

2 mins

The 80% rule

5 mins

Results test

8 mins

Unrelated clients test

5 mins

Employment test

5 mins

Business premises test

7 mins

Obtaining work through an agency

5 mins

Apply for a personal services business determination (PSBD)

3 mins

What to do when the PSI rules apply

2 mins

What to do when the PSI rules apply: claiming deductions

11 mins

What to do when the PSI rules apply: how to attribute PSI

8 mins

What to do when the PSI rules apply: PAYG

18 mins

What to do when the PSI rules apply: completing your tax return

4 mins

What to do if the PSI rules don’t apply

3 mins

Record keeping for PSI

1 mins

Help for PSI

1 mins

Case study: instructions

1 mins

Case studies: sole trader

11 mins

Case studies: partnership

12 mins

Case studies: company

12 mins

Case studies: trust

12 mins

Related courses

1 mins

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