Oh no - don't tell me it's time to get the shoe box out again. Afraid so. With the calendar ticking over to the new financial year, it's time to start hunting around for all those receipts and pieces of paper you'll need for your tax return. The super-organised keep everything in nice neat bundles so it's all ready to go. But for most of us, tax time is a frustrating hunt to chase up what we've spent and work out what expenses we can claim.

Work-related expenses are among the most commonly claimed tax deductions, which means they also come under extra Tax Office scrutiny. It says this year it will pay particular attention to claims for motor vehicles, self-education and travel.

It will also be writing to more than 380,000 nurses (including midwives and carers), chefs and medical practitioners as these occupations have been identified as having high claims, increased numbers of people claiming and many making claims for the first time.

It will be warning them about common mistakes for work-related expenses, such as nurses claiming deductions for self-education expenses when there is an insufficient connection between the education and their current work, and chefs claiming transport expenses between home and work while carrying equipment such as knives or where no public transport is available.

Medical practitioners are under the spotlight for claiming private travel expenses, such as trips where they are accompanied by family or friends, and entertainment expenses, such as business lunches and attending social events or industry promotions.

So how do I get it right? The Tax Office says there are basic rules. First, you must have incurred the expense in the year you are claiming for. Second, the expense must be work-related and if the expense has been reimbursed by your employer, it can't be claimed.

If your work-related claims total less than $300, you don't need written evidence, though you may be asked how you worked out your claim. Once your claims hit $300, you need written evidence for the full amount.

This evidence needs to show five key things: the name of the supplier, what you bought, how much you paid, when the expense was incurred and the date of the document.

Hold on a minute. Not all my records are this thorough. What can I do if they don't show all these things? You have some leeway. For instance, if the record doesn't show exactly what you bought, the Tax Office says you can write this on the document before you lodge your return. You can also use electronic records and a combination of records to provide the information. So you could, for example, use your credit card statement or a BPay reference number to prove that an invoice has been paid.

For small expenses - up to $10 each - and expenses where you couldn't get a receipt, such as tolls or parking meters, you can write down the details yourself, so long as your records show the required information and the total of your small claims is not more than $200.

You need to keep this information for five years from when you lodge your tax return, unless the claim is disputed, in which case you must keep the records until the dispute is settled.

There are special rules for some expenses, such as work-related travel expenses and home offices. And where expenses are incurred for a mix of private and work use, they will need to be apportioned accordingly.

Why is the Tax Office focusing on self-education, travel and cars? They are areas where it is easy to slip up. For example, self-education expenses are only deductible where they relate to your current employment. You can't claim if you're studying to get a different or better job.

Car expenses can be claimed according to four different methods, each with their own rules and record requirements. Common mistakes with travel expenses include claiming for travel between home and work and not keeping records such as a travel diary (where it's required) to show your trip was for work purposes. The Tax Office has information on these and other types of claims and guides for different professions, at www.ato.gov.au.