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Pooja, an art teacher at a local high school, is in the process of lodging her tax return for the 2020 income tax year

Accounting

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Pooja, an art teacher at a local high school, is in the process of lodging her tax return for the 2020 income tax year. She has heard that you are studying taxation law and has asked for your advice. She provides you with the following information:

Receipts:

• $75,000 in salary
• In May 2020, Pooja decided to sell her investment property. She signed a contract for the sale of the home on 30 May 2020 for $790,000. However, due to the purchasers of the property struggling to obtain finance, the contract didn’t settle until 1 July 2020. Agent fees on the sale were $12,000 and solicitor fees were $600. She purchased the investment property on 1 October 2017 for $750,000.
• On 1 February 2020, she sold a piece of jewellery she had received when her grandmother died on the 1st of September 2010. She received $5,000 from the sale. Family records showed that the grandmother first acquired the jewellery in 1998 at a cost of $200. The market value of the jewellery at the date of her grandmother’s death was $1,000.
• $15,000 in rent from her investment property.
• $500 in prize money. Pooja advises you that she won the $500 by entering a photography competition being run by her local art gallery. Pooja has never won a prize before but considers herself a talented photographer.

In addition, Pooja incurred the following expenses:

• $400 for the purchase of stationary for use by her students in her classroom.    
• $300 speeding fine she incurred when she was rushing to work one day.
• $10,000 for attending a training course on contemporary teaching methods. Pooja attended this course in the hopes that it would secure her a promotion with her current employer.

Required:

What is Pooja’s taxable income for the 2020 income tax year? You should provide a concise, but comprehensive, explanation as to why you have included/excluded any amount as assessable income or as an allowable deduction. To support the analysis in your answer, refer, where appropriate, to the ITAA 1993, ITAA 1997, Taxation Rulings, other relevant statues and/or case law.