Work-Related Deductions Calculator
Combine WFH, car, self-education, union fees, clothing, laundry and tools into one EOFY estimate. Choose the income year, compare car methods, and see the change in resident income tax and Medicare levy.
The tax-saving estimate applies resident rates, LITO and the Medicare levy settings below.
1. Work from home
Fixed-rate method: $0.70/hr covers electricity, gas, phone, internet, stationery and computer consumables. Eligible asset decline in value is separate.
2. Car expenses
Include substantiated running costs and eligible decline in value; exclude purchase price, principal and private-use apportionment.
Enter both methods to compare them. The selected method is the amount included in your total claim.
3. Self-education
Must have sufficient nexus with your current income. HECS-HELP repayments are not deductible.
4. Other work-related claims
ATO estimate: $1 per work-only load or $0.50 per mixed load. The $150 rule is a written-evidence exception, not a flat deduction.
The asset estimate is for an item first used during the selected income year. Earlier assets require their opening adjustable value.
Enter your deductions to see the estimated tax saving.
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ATO work-expense rates by income year
Two of these move each year and the rest do not. The working-from-home and cents-per-kilometre rates are reset by the ATO; the laundry per-load amounts and the two written-evidence thresholds are statutory or long-standing administrative figures that have not been indexed. 2025-26 is the year on the return you lodge now; 2026-27 is the year in progress.
| Item | 2025-26 | 2026-27 | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Working from home — fixed rate | 70c per hour | 70c per hour | Covers electricity, gas, phone, internet, stationery and computer consumables |
| Car — cents per kilometre | 88c per km | 91c per km | Covers every running cost including decline in value — nothing is added on top |
| Car — kilometre cap per car | 5,000 km | 5,000 km | Beyond the cap you must switch that car to the logbook method |
| Car — maximum cents-per-km claim | $4,400 | $4,550 | Rate × cap, per car, per person |
| Laundry — work-only load | $1.00 per load | $1.00 per load | Commissioner's reasonable estimate under TR 98/5 — not indexed |
| Laundry — mixed work and private load | $0.50 per load | $0.50 per load | Applies when work clothing is washed with private clothing |
| Laundry written-evidence limit | $150 | $150 | ITAA 1997 s 900-40 — a reasonable estimate is accepted at or below this |
| Total work expenses written-evidence threshold | $300 | $300 | ITAA 1997 s 900-35 — statutory, never indexed |
| Low-cost asset immediate deduction | $300 | $300 | ITAA 1997 s 40-80(2), subject to the set and identical-item tests |
Rates are read from the same year configuration the calculator uses, so this table and your result can never disagree.
What the $300 and $150 thresholds actually do
Neither figure is a deduction. Both are substantiation exceptions — they change what paperwork you need, not what you are entitled to claim. This is the single most common error in employee returns, because "you can claim $300 without receipts" gets repeated as though the ATO hands it out.
$300 — total work expenses
If your total claim for work expenses is $300 or less, you can deduct it without written evidence (ITAA 1997 s 900-35). You still have to have spent the money, and you still have to be able to show how you worked the amount out.
Cross the threshold by a dollar and the exception is gone for the whole claim, not just the excess. A $310 claim needs evidence for all $310.
$150 — laundry only
Laundry sits under its own exception (ITAA 1997 s 900-40). Up to $150 of washing, drying and ironing can rest on a reasonable estimate even when your total work expenses are well over $300.
Dry-cleaning is not covered by the $150 exception, and neither is the cost of the clothing itself. Those need receipts once you pass $300 overall.
Which travel is excluded from the $300 count
Car expenses, travel-allowance expenses and overtime-meal-allowance expenses are not counted towards the $300 total and have their own substantiation rules. That is why a $4,000 cents-per-kilometre claim does not, by itself, push your other small claims past the threshold.
Calculating a laundry claim from loads
A laundry claim is built from loads, not from the $150 ceiling. Under TR 98/5 the Commissioner accepts $1.00 per load where the load contains only eligible work clothing, and $0.50 per load where work clothing is washed with private clothing. The rate covers washing, drying and ironing together.
The clothing has to qualify first. Deductible categories are compulsory distinctive uniforms, registered non-compulsory uniforms, occupation-specific clothing (a chef's checked trousers, a nurse's scrubs) and protective clothing such as steel-caps, hi-vis and sun-protective gear worn for outdoor work. Plain black trousers, a white shirt or a suit are conventional clothing and are not deductible however strictly the employer enforces them — and if the clothing is not deductible, laundering it is not deductible either.
Worked example — hospitality worker in a compulsory branded uniform
Buying the uniform, having it repaired, and dry-cleaning it are separate claims from laundering it — enter them as documented costs rather than as loads.
Cents per kilometre vs logbook
Both methods claim the same thing — the work-use share of running a car you own, lease or hire-purchase. They differ in how you prove it. Neither method makes ordinary home-to-work commuting deductible; the trips that count are travel between workplaces, travel to an alternative work location, and (narrowly) carrying bulky tools you have no secure place to leave at work.
Cents per kilometre
88c per km for 2025-26 and 91c for 2026-27, capped at 5,000 work kilometres per car. The rate is all-inclusive: fuel, servicing, registration, insurance and decline in value are already inside it.
No receipts, but you do need a reasonable basis for the kilometre count — a diary of work trips, a roster, or a representative period you can scale.
Logbook
A continuous 12-week logbook establishes a work-use percentage that stays valid for five years unless your pattern changes. Apply that percentage to your actual running costs plus decline in value.
No kilometre cap, so it is usually the better method above the cap or where the car is expensive to run — but it needs the full cost records, and the car limit of $69,674 applies to the depreciation component for 2025-26.
Worked example — 4,200 work kilometres in 2025-26
You can choose a different method for each car, and you can change method between years. Enter both sets of inputs above and the calculator shows each amount before you pick.
The categories people leave on the table
Self-education
Deductible from the first dollar. The old $250 non-deductible threshold in s 82A ITAA 1936 was repealed with effect from the 2022-23 income year, so there is nothing to net off any more. Course fees you pay yourself, textbooks, stationery, student services fees, travel to class and decline in value on study equipment all qualify where the course has a sufficient connection to the work you already do. Repayments of HECS-HELP and other study and training loans are never deductible — that is a different thing from the course fee.
Union and professional fees
Union dues, professional association subscriptions, registration and licence renewals and industry journals are deductible in full under s 8-1 with no cap. Most are pre-filled from the organisation, but only where the body reports them — check the amount against your own statement rather than assuming the pre-fill is complete. A joining fee for a profession you have not yet entered is not deductible.
Tools and equipment
An item costing $300 or less is deductible immediately, apportioned for work use, provided it is not part of a set costing more than $300 and not one of several identical items totalling more than $300. Above that, claim decline in value over the asset's effective life — the calculator prorates the first year from the date you started using it, which is why a June purchase yields so little in its first year.
Working from home
70c per hour under the fixed-rate method, which bundles electricity, gas, phone, internet, stationery and computer consumables. Because it bundles them, claiming phone or internet again as a separate item is a double claim. Equipment decline in value and cleaning of a dedicated work area sit outside the rate and are claimed on top. The work-from-home deductions calculator compares fixed rate against actual cost in detail.
D1 to D5 — the labels on your return
myTax groups these under "Work-related expenses" and the paper return numbers them D1 to D5. Splitting a bundled total across the right labels does not change the deduction, but each label is compared against ATO benchmarks for your occupation and income band, so an amount parked at the wrong label is more likely to be queried.
| Label | What goes here | Evidence |
|---|---|---|
| D1 Work-related car expenses | Car you own, lease or hire-purchase, used for work travel between workplaces or to carry bulky tools. Not home-to-work commuting. | Cents-per-km needs a reasonable basis for the kilometres; the logbook method needs a 12-week logbook plus running-cost records. |
| D2 Work-related travel expenses | Airfares, accommodation, meals and incidentals on work trips, plus taxis, tolls, parking and public transport not claimed at D1. | Receipts, unless a reasonable-amounts travel allowance exception applies. Travel diary required for trips of 6 or more nights. |
| D3 Work-related clothing, laundry and dry-cleaning | Compulsory and registered non-compulsory uniforms, occupation-specific clothing, protective clothing, and laundering them. | Laundry up to $150 can be a reasonable estimate; dry-cleaning and the clothing itself need receipts once total work expenses exceed $300. |
| D4 Work-related self-education expenses | Course fees, textbooks, stationery, student union fees, travel to study and depreciation on study equipment for a course connected to your current work. | Receipts and enrolment evidence. HECS-HELP and other study loan repayments are never deductible here. |
| D5 Other work-related expenses | Working-from-home running costs, tools and equipment, union and professional association fees, subscriptions, phone and internet not covered elsewhere. | Working-from-home hours records for the whole year, plus one bill per covered expense type; receipts for tools and fees. |
Keep every record for 5 years from the date you lodge. For a depreciating asset, the clock runs for 5 years after the final decline-in-value claim, not from purchase. Once you have your totals, run them through the tax return calculator to see the refund effect.
What counts as a work-related deduction in Australia?
Do I still need receipts for everything?
Can I claim WFH hours and phone/internet separately?
Cents-per-km vs logbook — which is better?
Is HECS-HELP deductible as self-education?
What about plain black pants or business suits?
What is the ATO laundry rate, and is $150 a flat deduction?
Is there a standard deduction for work expenses in Australia?
How many kilometres can I claim without a logbook?
Are union fees and professional memberships deductible?
Which label does each claim go at on my tax return?
How long do I keep the records?
Tax Accuracy & Sources
Estimates eligible employee deductions for 2025-26 or 2026-27. Uses year-specific WFH and car rates, load-based laundry estimates, work-use apportionment, and first-year prime-cost or diminishing-value depreciation from the entered first-use date. Tax saving uses resident income tax after LITO and the entered Medicare household settings. Excludes HELP, MLS, SAPTO and other offsets; it is not a refund forecast.