Mining and FIFO Worker Tax Deductions 2025-26: What You Can and Can't Claim

General information only. Speak with a registered tax agent for advice.

Mining and FIFO workers claim more than most occupations — protective gear, tools, permits, training — but the two biggest-dollar items are also the two most misunderstood. First, the ATO’s own example of non-deductible “conventional clothing” is work wear worn by mining site employees, which surprises people who assume anything worn on-site must be a work expense. Second, the travel and accommodation that make up a FIFO roster are usually not deductible at all, because the employer pays for them directly — a deduction requires you to have actually incurred the cost yourself. Genuine protective clothing, tools, permits and self-funded overnight travel remain solidly deductible; it is the assumption that “mine site” automatically means “tax deductible” that causes the most errors.

What you can claim

Dollar ranges above are indicative of what mining and FIFO workers commonly spend — they are not ATO limits. Claim what you actually incurred and can substantiate. There is no working-from-home fixed-rate row in this table: most FIFO and site-based roles involve very few hours of genuine work-from-home time each roster, so the 70c-per-hour method rarely produces a meaningful deduction — it’s still worth checking if you regularly do rostered admin or training from home.

What you cannot claim

• Ordinary mine-site work wear. The ATO’s own example of “conventional clothing” — everyday clothing worn regardless of occupation — is work wear worn by mining site employees. Jeans, drill shirts, shorts, trousers, socks and closed shoes stay private even if you only ever wear them on-site and your employer requires them. Only clothing with a genuine protective feature, an occupation-specific design, or a compulsory/registered uniform crosses into deductible territory.
• FIFO travel, flights and camp costs your employer provides or pays for. If your employer flies you to site, houses you in camp accommodation and feeds you, you haven’t incurred any expense for those items — there’s nothing to deduct. The same applies if your employer or a third party reimburses you for travel, accommodation or meals you did pay for yourself.
• Trips between home and your regular work site. Private, even if you live a long way from the mine, work outside normal hours, or fly in and out on an irregular roster. You also can’t claim travel expenses where you weren’t required to sleep away from home overnight — for example, flying interstate for work and returning the same day, or choosing to sleep near the site rather than travelling home.
• Car expenses on a salary-sacrificed or novated lease vehicle. You don’t own, lease or hire a car under a salary sacrifice or novated lease arrangement — it’s usually your employer leasing the car and making it available to you — so the standard car-expense deduction isn’t available for it.
• Child care, including school holiday and before/after school care. It has no direct connection to earning your income, however necessary it is to your ability to work a roster.
• Fitness expenses, such as gym fees or equipment, even if you must pass medical examinations and fitness tests to maintain your employment.
• Prescription glasses and contact lenses. Private, even where you need them to do your job. Only protective eyewear — anti-glare, photochromatic, safety glasses or goggles — is deductible, and only for the work-related use.
• Your driver’s licence, and the initial cost of getting a licence, regulatory permit, card or certificate needed to get the job — a forklift or truck licence, for example. Only the cost of renewing it while you’re employed is deductible.
• Fines and penalties. Parking and speeding fines are never deductible, whatever the circumstances.
• Relocation expenses. The cost of transferring or relocating to a new work location isn’t deductible, whether the move is a condition of your existing job or you’re starting a new one.
• Music streaming, general news and magazine subscriptions. Private unless you can show a direct connection between the content and your specific work duties, and that the content is specific to your employment rather than general in nature.
• Anything your employer paid for or reimbursed. Including protective items, tools, licences and travel.

Worked example

Fionn is a FIFO drill operator earning $150,000 in 2025-26, working a two-weeks-on, one-week-off roster at a Western Australian mine site. His employer flies him to site, houses him in camp accommodation and provides meals — so none of that appears in his claim. What he does claim is what he personally buys, maintains and funds.

Fionn’s income falls in the $135,001–$190,000 bracket (37%), so with the 2% Medicare levy his marginal rate is 39%. These deductions reduce his tax by approximately $1,279. Run your own numbers through the Tax Return Calculator.

Notice what’s missing: his flights, his camp bed and his camp meals. His employer paid for all three directly, so he never incurred the expense — there’s nothing to claim. The only overnight stay he does claim is the one trip to a satellite pit his employer’s camp arrangement didn’t cover, where he paid for his own room. Compare your own claim against the full deduction list in the Work-Related Deductions Calculator.

ATO audit triggers

• Any claim for ordinary mine-site work wear as clothing. This is a direct flag — the ATO names mining site work wear as its own textbook example of conventional, non-deductible clothing.
• Travel, accommodation or meal claims that duplicate what your employer already provided. A deduction depends on you incurring the cost. Claiming camp accommodation or FIFO flights your employer paid for is visible against your payment summary and roster.
• Overnight travel claims where you weren’t required to stay away. Flying in and out the same day, or choosing to stay near site rather than go home, doesn’t meet the overnight requirement.
• Self-education pointed at a different job or qualification. The test is whether it maintains or improves the skills for your current duties, or is likely to increase income from your current employment — not whether it’s generally useful in mining.
• Claiming the initial cost of a licence or permit needed to get the job, rather than only the cost of renewing it once you’re employed.
• Round-number laundry or travel claims with no record behind them. You still need to be able to show how you calculated the amount, even below the no-receipts thresholds.

Records you need

• Evidence you weren’t reimbursed for any item you claim — protective items, tools, permits, travel and accommodation are the ones most commonly employer-funded on a mine site.
• Receipts for tools and equipment, with the purchase date and cost, so items can be split correctly between the immediate $300-or-less deduction and decline in value.
• A logbook or cents-per-kilometre record for any deductible car travel between mine sites or between two jobs on the same day.
• Evidence for overnight travel: written evidence such as receipts is required for all overseas accommodation regardless of any allowance. For other travel expenses, you don’t need receipts if you received a travel allowance and your deduction is less than the Commissioner’s reasonable amount — but you must still be able to show you were away overnight, that you spent the money, and how you worked out the claim. If your claim exceeds the reasonable amount, keep receipts for all of it, not just the excess.
• Membership and course invoices. Union and professional association fees often appear on your income statement, which the ATO accepts as evidence of the amount paid.
• If your total work-related claim (including laundry, but excluding car, travel and overtime meal allowance expenses) is $300 or less, you don’t need receipts for that portion — you still need to be able to explain how you arrived at the figure.
• Travel allowances are assessable income unless all of the following apply: the allowance isn’t shown as a separate item on your income statement, it doesn’t exceed the Commissioner’s reasonable amount, and you spend the whole allowance on deductible accommodation, meal and incidental expenses. If any of those conditions fail, declare the allowance as income and keep the usual evidence for whatever you claim against it.

Key takeaways

• Ordinary mine-site work wear is the ATO’s own example of conventional, non-deductible clothing — genuine protective features, occupation-specific design, or a compulsory uniform are what actually qualify.
• Most of a FIFO roster isn’t a tax deduction at all: flights, camp beds and camp meals your employer pays for directly were never your expense to claim.
• Self-funded overnight travel for work — the trip your employer’s camp arrangement doesn’t cover — is deductible, subject to the usual travel-expense evidence rules.
• Tools and equipment split at $300: at or below, an immediate deduction; above, decline in value over the item’s effective life — both apportioned for private use.
• Only the renewal of a licence or permit is deductible; the initial cost of getting the qualification you needed to be hired is not.

Sources

• ATO: Mining site employees – income and work-related deductions
• ATO: Deductions you can claim
• Legislative anchor: ITAA 1997 s 8-1 and Div 900; PCG 2023/1

Next step

• Check your own deduction list against 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 FIFO workers — site travel, protective gear, camp and roster rules