Tax Insight · Deductions
Cleaner Tax Deductions 2025-26: What You Can and Can't Claim
- Published
- July 2026
- Last reviewed
- Tax-year context
- 2025-26
- Reading time
- 7 min
General information only — we maintain pages with primary-source checks and date-based reviews. See editorial policy.
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Cleaners have one of the more generous deduction profiles among lower-paid occupations, because so much of the job involves consumables and equipment you may buy yourself. The two claims worth getting right are the ones with real money in them: equipment you purchase and depreciate, and — for cleaners who transport their own gear — the cost of driving between home and job sites. That car claim is normally private, but the ATO allows it where you genuinely carry bulky equipment and your employer provides no secure storage. Getting the conditions right is what separates a valid claim from a reviewed one.
What you can claim
| Deduction | Typical range | Key rule |
|---|---|---|
| Cleaning products bought for work | $150–$700 | Only products you buy solely to earn your income. Apportion anything you also use at home, and claim nothing your employer supplies or reimburses |
| Tools and equipment $300 or less | Up to $300 per item | Immediate deduction in the year of purchase for the work-use portion — mops, buckets, small power tools |
| Tools and equipment over $300 | Work % of decline in value | Vacuums, steam cleaners, pressure washers claimed over their effective life |
| Repairs to tools and equipment | Actual cost | Work-related portion only |
| Car — trips carrying bulky equipment | 88c/km up to 5,000 km, or logbook | Only where the equipment is essential, genuinely bulky, and there is no secure storage at the workplace. Transporting gear by choice does not qualify |
| Protective items and PPE | $50–$400 | Gloves, face masks, sanitiser, safety glasses used against a real and likely risk of injury or illness |
| Protective clothing and aprons | $60–$300 | Protective, occupation-specific, or a compulsory/registered uniform |
| Laundry of eligible work clothing | $1 per load | $1 per work-only load, 50c per mixed load. Includes laundromat and dry-cleaning |
| Union and professional association fees | $250–$600 | Fully deductible; the amount usually appears on your income statement |
| First aid course | $80–$250 | Only if you are a designated first aid person and need it for workplace emergencies |
| Phone and data, work-related portion | $50–$350 | Work-use portion. No records needed if the use is incidental and the total claim is $50 or less |
| Seminars and training courses | $100–$800 | Must relate to your current cleaning work, including fares and registration |
| Self-education | Varies | Only where it maintains or improves skills for your current duties or is likely to increase your current income |
| Overnight work travel | Varies | Accommodation, meals and incidentals when work requires you to sleep away from home |
| Overtime meals | Per meal | Only with an overtime meal allowance under an industrial law, award or agreement, shown separately and declared |
Dollar ranges are indicative of common spending, not ATO limits.
What you cannot claim
- Everyday clothing worn to work. The ATO names jeans, exercise pants and t-shirts as conventional clothing for cleaners. Not deductible, however grubby the work.
- Washing conventional clothing stained or damaged at work. This one surprises people: the ATO states specifically that you cannot claim the cost of washing, drying, ironing or mending conventional clothes to remove grime or dirt picked up on the job. Only eligible protective, occupation-specific or uniform clothing qualifies for a laundry claim.
- Music streaming, CDs, audio books, podcasts or the devices you play them on while cleaning — even where they keep you motivated. The ATO says these are not essential to earning your income.
- Vaccinations, including the flu shot, even where the risk is workplace infection. Personal medical expense.
- Normal trips between home and a regular workplace, even for long distances or odd hours. The bulky-equipment exception above is the narrow carve-out.
- Cleaning products your employer supplies or reimburses, and the private-use share of anything you also use at home.
- Prescription glasses and contact lenses. Only protective eyewear qualifies.
- Child care, including holiday and before and after school care.
- Fines and penalties, including parking and speeding fines, however incurred.
- Your driver’s licence, even as a condition of employment.
Worked example
Danijela is an employed industrial cleaner in Adelaide earning $52,000 in 2025-26. She transports a pressure washer and floor scrubber to each site because her employer provides no secure storage, and she keeps a logbook of the kilometres.
| Item | Amount |
|---|---|
| Car — 1,900 work km at 88c/km (bulky equipment) | $1,672 |
| Cleaning products bought for work | $340 |
| Vacuum cleaner (over $300, decline in value, 80% work use) | $240 |
| Gloves, masks and safety glasses | $180 |
| Compulsory logoed polo and aprons | $150 |
| Laundry — $1 per load × 96 work-only loads | $96 |
| Union fees | $420 |
| Phone, work-related portion (25% of $840) | $210 |
| Tax agent fee | $180 |
| Total deductions | $3,488 |
At Danijela’s marginal rate of 30% (plus 2% Medicare levy), these deductions reduce her tax by approximately $1,116. Run your own numbers through the Tax Return Calculator.
The cents per kilometre rate is 88c for 2025-26 and the method is capped at 5,000 work kilometres. Above that, or where the logbook method gives a better result, use a logbook.
ATO audit triggers
- A car claim without the bulky-equipment conditions met. All of them must hold: the equipment is essential to your duties, it is genuinely awkward and heavy enough that it can only be transported conveniently by vehicle, and there is no secure storage at the workplace. If your employer offers storage and you take gear home anyway, that is a matter of choice and the trips stay private.
- Claiming exactly 5,000 kilometres. The cap is not an entitlement. A round-number claim at the cap with no logbook or diary behind it is a well-known review trigger.
- Laundry for ordinary clothes. Explicitly excluded for cleaners in the ATO’s own guidance.
- Cleaning products with no apportionment. Products that are also used at home must be split.
- Equipment claimed at 100% work use. If you also use the vacuum at home, claim the work share.
Records you need
- A logbook or diary of work kilometres showing the trips, dates and purpose — plus a note of why no secure storage was available.
- Receipts for cleaning products and equipment, with dates and amounts, so items split correctly between the immediate $300-or-less deduction and decline in value.
- A basis for every work-use percentage applied to equipment, products or your phone.
- Evidence your employer did not supply or reimburse the products, equipment or training you claim.
- A laundry calculation — loads per week and weeks worked. No written evidence is needed where the laundry claim is $150 or less, but you must still be able to explain the number.
Key takeaways
- The bulky-equipment exception can be the largest single claim in a cleaner’s return, but every condition has to be met and documented.
- Cleaning products are deductible only where bought for work — apportion anything shared with the household.
- Equipment splits at $300: at or below, deduct immediately; above, claim decline in value. Both for the work-use share only.
- Washing your own ordinary clothes after a dirty shift is not deductible. Only protective, occupation-specific or uniform clothing counts.
- Podcasts, music and vaccinations are private, however much the job motivates the purchase.
Sources
- ATO: Cleaners – income and work-related deductions
- ATO: Clothing, laundry and dry-cleaning expenses
- ATO: Deductions you can claim
- Legislative anchor: ITAA 1997 s 8-1, Div 28 and Div 900
Next step
- Bundle every claim type in the Work-Related Deductions Calculator
- Run your estimate in the Tax Return Calculator
Occupation guides
These role-specific guides cover the practical deduction rules, record-keeping checkpoints, and the best calculator to use next.
- Tax for Cleaners — products, equipment, site travel