Security Guard Tax Deductions 2025-26: What You Can and Can't Claim

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

Security and guarding is one of the few occupations where the ATO applies genuine all-or-nothing tests to some of its biggest deductions. Get the security licence timing wrong — claiming the licence that got you the job instead of only the cost of renewing it — and the whole claim is disallowed; this is the single most common error in licensed occupations. Firearms, ammunition and guard dogs sit in the same territory: each is only deductible where every condition lines up, and each turns into a private expense the moment your employer pays for it instead of you. Add a uniform that almost never qualifies as occupation-specific clothing, and shifts that move between venues rather than sitting still, and security guards end up with a deduction profile that rewards precision far more than volume.

What you can claim

Working from home running expenses aren’t in the table because most security work happens on-site or mobile, not at a desk — rostering and paperwork rarely add up to enough logged hours to justify the 70c fixed rate. If you genuinely do have work-from-home hours (and a diary to back them), you can still claim them; just remember the rate already bundles in phone, internet, electricity, gas and stationery, so you can’t also claim those separately.

Dollar ranges above are indicative of what security workers commonly spend — they are not ATO limits or benchmarks. Claim only what you actually incurred and can substantiate.

What you cannot claim

• Conventional clothing. Plain black pants and a white shirt — the ATO’s own example for security guards — are everyday clothing worn by people regardless of occupation. It’s not deductible even if it’s the only thing you wear at work and your employer insists on it. Guards and security workers generally don’t have occupation-specific clothing.
• Your initial security licence. The upfront cost of getting the licence, permit, card or certificate you needed to get the job is private, even though holding it is a legal condition of employment. Only the additional cost of renewing it to continue working is deductible.
• The initial cost of buying a guard dog. This is a capital expense, not an immediate deduction — though you can claim the dog’s decline in value over its effective life if your circumstances meet the guard dog test.
• Firearms, ammunition or gun licence costs your employer pays for. If your employer covers or reimburses these, you can’t also claim a deduction for them.
• Prescription glasses and contact lenses. Private, even though you need them to do your job. Only protective eyewear such as anti-glare, photochromatic or safety glasses qualifies.
• Ordinary commuting. Trips between home and your regular workplace are private, even if you’re on-call, work weekends, or start before dawn. Parking at or near that regular workplace and tolls on that same trip are private for the same reason. This stays private even if you’re in the habit of carrying gear — the bulky-tools exception only applies where there’s genuinely no secure storage at work; if your employer offers a lockable store and you choose to take equipment home anyway, that’s a personal choice, not a deductible necessity.
• Driving a vehicle your employer provides. Whether it’s badged or unbadged, you can’t claim car expenses for a vehicle your employer supplies — though unreimbursed fuel you personally paid for while on duty can still be claimed as a travel expense.
• Child care, school fees and your children’s education costs. Including school holiday and before/after school care, university and TAFE fees, and items like iPads, laptops, desks, calculators and stationery bought for your children’s schooling. None of it has a direct connection to earning your own income.
• Grooming. Hairdressing, cosmetics and hair and skin care products are private, even if you receive a grooming allowance or your employer expects you to be well presented.
• Fitness and gym expenses. Gym fees, conventional gym clothing, weight-management programs, special diets and supplements are all private expenses.
• Your driver’s licence. Not deductible even where holding one is a condition of your employment.
• Fines and penalties. Parking and speeding fines are never deductible, whether incurred at work or otherwise.
• Relocation costs. Moving 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.
• Anything your employer paid for or reimbursed. Including uniforms, equipment, firearms costs, guard dogs and home office setup.

Worked example

Tavita is a licensed security officer in Brisbane earning $75,000 in 2025-26. His main role is cash-in-transit work, which requires him to carry a firearm; he also handles a guard dog on warehouse patrols that his employer requires him to provide and train, and he picks up occasional second shifts at a separate venue.

At Tavita’s marginal rate of 30% (plus 2% Medicare levy), these deductions reduce his tax by approximately $626. Run your own numbers through the Tax Return Calculator.

Notice what isn’t in that table: the cost of buying the guard dog in the first place, and his initial security licence. Both are excluded because they’re the specific traps the ATO calls out for licensed occupations — the dog’s purchase is a capital expense he could instead claim as decline in value, and the original licence was the price of getting hired, not of continuing to work. His laundry claim also sits comfortably under the $150 no-receipts threshold, though he still keeps a record of how he calculated it. Compare your own claim shape against the standard deduction categories in the Work-Related Deductions Calculator.

ATO audit triggers

• Claiming your initial security licence. The ATO explicitly separates the cost of getting a licence to land the job from the cost of renewing it to keep working — only the second is deductible, and it’s an easy claim to get backwards.
• Firearms or guard dog claims with no direct work connection, or where your employer already paid. Both categories require a genuine link to your duties, and both are disallowed the moment your employer covers the cost instead of you.
• Guard dog claims that don’t meet all four conditions. Work duties requiring a dog, an employment requirement to provide your own, training as a guard dog from a young age, and no private or family use — miss any one and the claim fails.
• Any clothing or laundry claim without a genuine uniform or protective item behind it. The ATO uses security guards’ plain black pants and white shirt as its own textbook example of non-deductible conventional clothing.
• Bulky-tools car claims with employer-provided secure storage available. If storage exists at the workplace, choosing to take equipment home anyway is a matter of choice, not necessity, and the deduction doesn’t stand up.
• 100% work-use claims on a firearm, phone or vehicle. Very few of these are used exclusively for work; apportion, and keep a record supporting the percentage.

Records you need

• Evidence separating your initial licence from renewal costs — invoices or receipts that clearly show which payment was the renewal, not the original grant.
• Proof the guard dog test is met — details of your employer’s requirement to provide and train the dog, its training as a guard dog, and that it isn’t treated as a family pet, plus receipts for food, vet and registration costs.
• Records showing the direct work connection for firearms and ammunition, and confirmation your employer isn’t paying for or reimbursing these costs.
• A record of your car use — a logbook or cents-per-kilometre diary — plus evidence that the tools or equipment you carry are essential, bulky, and have no secure storage at work.
• Laundry calculations, even though no receipts are required under $150 — you still need to be able to show how you worked out the claim.
• Evidence you weren’t reimbursed for any item you claim, particularly firearms, uniforms and equipment.
• Union and professional fee amounts, which often appear on your income statement as accepted evidence of the amount paid.

Key takeaways

• The single biggest trap: your initial security licence isn’t deductible, but the cost of renewing it to keep working is. Keep the two separate on your invoices.
• Firearms, ammunition and gun licence renewals are deductible only with a direct connection to your duties, and only when your employer isn’t already covering the cost.
• Guard dog expenses are generally not deductible unless all four ATO conditions are met — and even then, the dog’s purchase price is capital, not an upfront deduction.
• Plain black pants and a white shirt are the ATO’s own example of non-deductible conventional clothing for security guards; only genuine protective items or a strictly enforced compulsory uniform qualify.
• The bulky-tools car exception requires all three conditions at once — essential, bulky, and no secure storage at work — not just personal preference.

Sources

• ATO: Guards and security workers – income and work-related deductions

Next step

• Compare your claim against the standard deduction categories 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 Security guards — licences, uniforms, equipment and shift travel