29/04/2026
LAME/AME, GROUND STAFF – Overtime Meal Allowances
Many LAME/AME’s do plenty of overtime. When you do overtime, in accordance with your EBA, you are paid an overtime meal allowance, commonly known as tea money.
Did you know, you can use this to maximise your tax refund but it must be claimed correctly?
This is what the ATO says:
• The allowance must be shown separately to your normal wages
• You must determine if the allowance is taxed or not taxed for correct treatment.
• You must spend the money on a meal while working overtime
• You can only claim up to the amount you spent
• If your claim is within the ATO’s reasonable allowance amounts, you may not need receipts — BUT in an audit the ATO will ask you to show how you worked out your claim. (In other words keep a few receipts to demonstrate how much you usually spend)
Many think it is just a matter of claiming your tea money as a deduction in your tax return.
This is incorrect and those who do will, in an audit, have the claim disallowed with a penalty applied.
To avoid the trap you must ensure that the allowance is also included as income in the appropriate section of the tax return.
The ATO allowable rate for tea money for 2025/2026 is $38.65. We suggest that you treat yourselves, say 5 or 6 times (1 every couple of months), buying a nice meal for approximately between $30 and $38 (without alcohol) and keep the receipts.
From there we or your accountant (if they understand the airline industry) can work out your overall annual entitlement claimable, hence increasing your refund.
At tax time next year please ensure you have added up how many meal allowances you received during the year tell your accountant when doing your next tax return.
