If you work as a tradie, whether you're an employee or running your own ABN, there's a long list of things you can legitimately claim at tax time, and most tradies leave money on the table by not claiming all of them. The ATO's rule is simple and worth memorising: a deduction has to be work-related, you must have spent the money yourself (and not been reimbursed), and you need a record to prove it. Get those three right and you can claim everything below.
Tools and equipment
Tools are the obvious one, and the rules depend on cost:
- Tools costing $300 or less can be claimed in full in the year you buy them (for employees).
- Sets of tools are looked at as a whole, you can't split a $900 socket set into three $300 claims.
- More expensive tools and equipment are either written off immediately under the instant asset write-off (the threshold is $20,000 for 2026-27, unchanged from 2025-26 and permanent from 1 July 2026, checked 31 August 2026; it has moved many times before, so check the ATO's current instant asset write-off threshold before you rely on it) or depreciated over their effective life. Work it out with the depreciation calculator.
- Don't forget tool insurance, repairs, sharpening and your tool box, all deductible, and the interest on any equipment finance.
Your vehicle, the biggest claim for most tradies
If you use your own vehicle for work (not the normal home-to-work commute), you can claim it two ways, and you can use whichever gives the bigger deduction:
- Cents per kilometre, 91c/km for 2026-27, on up to 5,000 work kilometres per car, with light record-keeping. At the cap that's a $4,550 deduction. (The ATO sets the 2026-27 rate as an 89 cent base plus a temporary one-off uplift of 2 cents, so expect it to move next year.) Estimate it with the cents-per-km calculator.
- Logbook method, your actual running costs (fuel, rego, insurance, servicing, depreciation) multiplied by your work-use percentage from a valid 12-week logbook, with no kilometre cap. For high-mileage tradies driving between jobs all day, the logbook method usually wins by a lot.
A key distinction: driving from home to a regular workplace is private and not claimable. But driving between job sites, to a client, or to pick up materials is work travel. If you carry bulky tools and equipment with no secure place to store them at work, some home-to-site travel may also qualify.
Worked example: a sparkie drives 9,000 work km a year. Under cents-per-km they're capped at 5,000 km × $0.91 = $4,550. But their actual running costs are $11,000 a year and their logbook shows 70% work use, so the logbook method gives 70% × $11,000 = $7,700, $3,150 more. The 12 weeks of logbook keeping pays for itself many times over.
Phone, internet and software
Claim the work-use percentage of your mobile phone, home internet, and any apps or job-management software you pay for. Work out a reasonable percentage based on actual use over a representative four-week period and apply it across the year.
Clothing, protective gear and laundry
You can't claim everyday clothes, even if you only wear them to work. But you can claim:
- Protective gear, hi-vis, steel-capped boots, protective gloves, safety glasses, hard hats, ear protection, respirators.
- Sun protection if you work outdoors, sunscreen, sunglasses and hats.
- Compulsory branded/logo uniforms.
- Laundry of eligible work clothing (there's a reasonable-basis rate the ATO accepts without receipts up to a limit).
Home office and admin
Tradies do more admin than they think, quoting, invoicing, ordering. You can claim the hours you work from home using the fixed-rate method (70c per hour, the last fixed rate we confirmed, for 2025-26, and the ATO sets it each year, so check its working from home expenses page for the current rate), which covers electricity, internet, phone and stationery, or the actual-cost method if you keep detailed records. Keep a diary of your home-working hours.
Licences, training, fees and insurance
- Renewing a trade licence, white card or registration is deductible. (Note: the initial qualification to get into the trade generally isn't.)
- Work-related short courses and upskilling that relate to your current trade are claimable.
- Union or trade-association fees, income-protection insurance, and public-liability insurance (for sole traders) are deductible.
- Tax agent fees, what you pay to have your return prepared is deductible next year.
Super (for sole traders)
If you run your own ABN, you can make personal deductible super contributions up to the concessional cap, $32,500 for 2026-27 and up from $30,000, a legitimate way to both save for retirement and reduce this year's taxable income. Notify your fund with the right form before lodging.
Keep the records
You generally need to keep records for five years. The easiest approach is to photograph receipts as you go (the ATO's myDeductions tool or your accounting app makes this painless) and keep your logbook current. When it's time to lodge, the income tax calculator gives you a quick estimate of where you'll land.
Common mistakes to avoid
- Claiming your commute, home to a regular workplace isn't deductible.
- Claiming 100% of your phone or vehicle when there's clearly private use, apportion honestly.
- No records, without a receipt or logbook, the deduction can be disallowed on review.
- Claiming everyday clothes because you wear them on site.
See how OneBookPlus keeps your jobs, quoting and invoicing as a tradie in one place so your income and expenses are ready at tax time.
This is general information, not tax advice, confirm your own position with a registered tax agent.
