Police Officer Tax Deductions 2025-26: What You Can and Can't Claim

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

Police officers have one of the more counter-intuitive deduction profiles of any occupation, because so much of the gear that looks like a work expense is already supplied by the department. Bulletproof vests, firearms, handcuffs and utility belts are issued and replaced by your employer — you can only claim additional or more sophisticated equipment you buy and use yourself. Club membership fees are blanket non-deductible except for one specific carve-out: Federal or State Police pistol clubs. And the everyday business attire an officer wears to give evidence in court is conventional clothing, not deductible, even though almost nobody outside a courtroom would call it a uniform. Get these traps right first, then layer on the deductions that are genuinely available — additional ammunition for training, protective and anti-glare eyewear, uniform laundry, professional fees and current-role training.

What you can claim

Dollar ranges above are indicative of what officers commonly spend — they are not ATO limits. Claim what you actually incurred and can substantiate.

Police work is shift-based and largely conducted from a station, vehicle or the field rather than a home office, so most officers get more value from claiming actual work-related phone, data and internet use than from the working-from-home fixed rate — the fixed rate exists and can still apply on days you genuinely work from home, but it isn’t the natural default for this occupation the way it is for office-based roles.

Recruits and cadets sit slightly outside the rules above. What a cadet or recruit can claim depends on how their particular State or Territory Police Force structures training, because the ATO treats the self-education test differently depending on whether you’re already an employee at the time you incur the expense. NSW recruits studying towards the Associate Degree of Policing Practice have specific guidance in a dedicated ATO ruling (CR 2006/73) — if that’s your situation, check the ruling rather than assuming the general self-education rule above applies unchanged.

What you cannot claim

• Normal trips between home and your regular police station. Private, even if you work weekend or early-morning shifts, live a long way away, or carry an item that’s illegal to bring on public transport. Limited exceptions exist for bulky tools or equipment and shifting places of employment, but ordinary commuting stays out.
• Conventional clothing, including business attire worn to give evidence in court. Everyday clothing — including plain clothes or business attire — isn’t deductible even though you only wear it at work. The one narrow exception is additional conventional clothing bought by an undercover officer specifically for an operation.
• Child care and your children’s education costs. School fees, university fees, TAFE fees, and even devices bought for your children’s schooling are private expenses with no direct connection to your income.
• Getting your initial driver’s licence or firearm licence. Not deductible even where holding one is a condition of employment. Only the additional cost to get a special licence or renew/upgrade an existing one for your duties is deductible.
• Grooming. Hairdressing, cosmetics and hair and skin care products stay private, even with a grooming allowance or an expectation that you’ll be well presented.
• Gym and fitness expenses. Skipping ropes, weights and other fitness equipment are private, even though you must pass fitness tests to keep your job. The narrow exception is where your role needs an extremely high level of fitness well above the general policing standard, combined with genuinely strenuous physical activities as an essential, regular part of the role.
• Guard dogs and home security systems for your own family. Buying and maintaining a guard dog, or installing a security system at home, is capital and private — even for an officer whose role carries personal risk.
• Entertainment and social functions. Work breakfasts, lunches and dinners, sporting events, gala nights and cocktail parties are private, even if compulsory or you discuss work there. Travel to and from these events is out too.
• Fines and penalties. Parking or speeding fines are never deductible, connected to work or not.
• Food and drink during normal working hours. Private, even with a meal allowance — unless it’s a genuine overtime meal covered by a separate allowance under an industrial law, award or agreement.
• Prescription glasses and contact lenses. Private, even where the job requires you to wear them. Only protective or anti-glare eyewear is deductible.
• Conventional or ordinary watches and, generally, smart watches. Private, even if you need one for the job — unless you can show the smart watch’s functions are essential to your duties and keep a diary of your work-related use.
• Relocating to a new posting. Not deductible whether the move is a condition of your existing job or you’re taking up a new one.
• Equipment your employer already supplies or reimburses. Bulletproof vests, firearms, handcuffs, holsters and utility belts are normally issued by the department — you can only claim additional or more sophisticated equipment you buy yourself.

Worked example

Nathan is a senior constable in general duties policing in Adelaide, earning $92,000 in 2025-26. He works shifts from his local station and patrol vehicle, so he doesn’t use the working-from-home fixed rate — instead he claims his actual work-related phone and data use.

At Nathan’s marginal rate of 30% (plus 2% Medicare levy), these deductions reduce his tax by approximately $906. Run your own numbers through the Tax Return Calculator.

Note what is missing from that table: his bulletproof vest, firearm, handcuffs and utility belt. Those are department-issued and replaced, so they’re not his expense to claim — only the additional holster pouch and sighting device he bought himself make the cut. His laundry claim also stays under $150, so he doesn’t need written evidence for it, but he does need the itemised phone bill because his phone claim is above $50.

ATO audit triggers

• Claiming issued equipment as your own expense. Bulletproof vests, firearms, handcuffs and utility belts are supplied by the department — claiming the base item, rather than additional or upgraded gear you bought, is a straightforward red flag.
• Business-attire or court-clothing claims. The ATO treats conventional clothing worn to give evidence, including plain clothes, as non-deductible, so a clothing or laundry claim built around it stands out.
• Club membership claims outside a police pistol club. The only named exception is Federal or State Police pistol clubs — any other club fee claimed as work-related invites scrutiny.
• Fitness claims without the “extremely high” threshold documented. Passing a standard fitness test isn’t enough; you need evidence your role demands fitness well above the general policing standard plus genuinely strenuous regular duties.
• Self-education that points at a different career. A course that helps you move into a new role or a different field fails the current-duties test, whatever the policing connection looks like on paper.
• Informant payments without a clear trail. These are deductible in limited circumstances, but a payment you were reimbursed for, or an “elaborate meal” or alcohol claimed as a light meal, are both outside what the ATO accepts.

Records you need

• Receipts for ammunition, equipment and protective gear, with purchase date and cost, so items can be split correctly between the immediate $300-or-less deduction and decline in value.
• A laundry record if your total laundry claim exceeds $150. Below that threshold, no written evidence is required for the $1/50c-per-load rates.
• Itemised phone and data bills plus a representative record of your work-related use, required once your phone claim exceeds $50.
• Evidence you were not reimbursed for any equipment, course or informant payment you claim.
• Your income statement as evidence of union and professional association fees where it shows the amount paid.
• A diary or similar record of use if you claim a smart watch or other apportioned device.
• Something that ties self-education to your current duties — a course outline, employer memo or performance plan showing the connection to your current role rather than a future one.

Key takeaways

• Most of your issued gear — vests, firearms, handcuffs, utility belts — is supplied by the department, so only additional or more sophisticated equipment you buy yourself is deductible.
• Business attire worn to give evidence in court is conventional clothing and not deductible, with one narrow exception: additional plain clothes bought by an undercover officer for a specific operation.
• Club membership fees are non-deductible across the board except Federal or State Police pistol clubs.
• Fitness expenses stay private unless your role needs extremely high fitness plus regular, essential strenuous duties — a standard fitness test alone doesn’t clear the bar.
• Ammunition you buy yourself for additional training is deductible; ammunition supplied by the department isn’t your expense to claim.

Sources

• ATO: Police officers – income and work-related deductions
• ATO: Deductions you can claim
• Legislative anchor: ITAA 1997 s 8-1

Next step

• Estimate your full return in the Tax Return Calculator
• Total up your work-related claims in the Work-Related Deductions Calculator

Occupation guides

These role-specific guides cover the practical deduction rules, record-keeping checkpoints, and the best calculator to use next.

• Tax for Police officers — uniforms, fitness, firearms and current-role training