Deductions you can claim

You can claim deductions for some expenses you incur in your tax return. Most are work-related expenses you incur to earn your income as an employee.

On this page

• Work-related expenses
• Other deductions
• Occupation and industry specific guides
• Managing your deductions

Watch: Get your deductions right

Work-related expenses

To claim a deduction for a work-related expense, you must meet the 3 golden rules:

1. You must have spent the money yourself and weren't reimbursed.
2. The expenses must directly relate to earning your income.
3. You must have a record to prove it (usually a receipt).

You claim these in your tax return at the 'Work-related expense' sections.

If the expense was for both work and private purposes, you only claim a deduction for the work-related use. You can't claim a deduction if your employer pays for or reimburses you for any of these costs. If we think your employer may reimburse you for your expenses we may ask them.

Access from the table below, either:

• A work-related expense to find out what you can and can't claim as a deduction, including the records you need as evidence – use the link in the left column of the table.
• A summary of the common work-related expenses that you can download as a PDF and print – use the link in the right column of the table.

We translate some common expenses in other languages to help people from non-English speaking backgrounds. To find out what summaries are available in your language:

• select your language from the other languages' homepage
• select the heading Individuals
• check the list, if a summary is available a link will be available on this page.

For more information, see Employees guide for work expenses.

Other work-related expenses

You may be able to claim other work-related deductions for expenses you incur in the course of earning your income.

You claim these in your tax return as an 'Other work-related expense'.

Common claims at this section in the tax return include:

• Working from home expenses
• COVID-19 test expenses
• Phone, data and internet expenses
• Tools, equipment and other assets
• Union fees, subscriptions to associations and bargaining agents fees

For more information, see Employees guide for work expenses.

Other expenses

You may also be able to claim a deduction for other expenses you incur that don't relate to your work or income producing activities.

You claim these in your tax return at the specific expense category (where available) or as an 'Other deduction'.

Common claims at this section include expenses, such as:

• Cost of managing tax affairs
• Gifts and donations
• Interest, dividend and other investment income deductions
• Income protection insurance

Occupation and industry specific guides

Our occupation and industry specific guides give you information about income, allowances and deductions you can claim for work-related expenses. We tailor these to address common claims and errors in your occupation or industry.

Managing your deductions

You need to keep records for most expenses when you claim a deduction.

You can use the myDeductions tool in the ATO app to help keep track of your:

• work-related expenses (such as, vehicle trips)
• general expenses (such as, gifts and donations).

You can upload these records or share them with a tax agent at tax time to make lodging your tax return easier.