D3 Work-related clothing, laundry and dry-cleaning expenses 2024

Things you need to know

Work-related clothing expenses are the costs you incurred for clothing that is:

• protective clothing and footwear, such as fire-resistant clothing, sun protection clothing, safety-coloured vests, non-slip nurse’s shoes, steel-capped boots, gloves, overalls, aprons, and heavy-duty shirts and trousers (but not jeans) that you wear while working to either
  • protect you from the risk of illness or injury
  • prevent damage to your ordinary clothes, caused by your work or work environment. You can claim the cost of protective equipment, such as hard hats and safety glasses at question D5.
• a non-compulsory uniform that your employer has registered on the Register of Approved Occupational Clothing (check with your employer if you are not sure)
• a compulsory uniform that is a set of clothing or a single item that is distinctive (such as one that has your employer’s logo permanently attached to it) and identifies you as an employee of an organisation. There must be a strictly enforced policy making it compulsory to wear that clothing at work. Items may include shoes, stockings, socks and jumpers where they are an essential part of a distinctive compulsory uniform and the colour, style and type are specified in your employer’s policy.
• occupation-specific which allows people to easily recognise that occupation (such as the checked pants a chef wears when working) and which are not for everyday use.

Work-related clothing expenses also includes the costs you incurred to launder and dry-clean work clothing from the categories listed above.

You can also claim the cost of renting and repairing any of the above work-related clothing.

You can't claim the cost of purchasing or cleaning plain uniforms or clothes, such as black trousers, white shirts, suits or stockings, even if your employer requires you to wear them.

For more information, see:

• Taxation Ruling TR 98/5 Income tax: calculating and claiming a deduction for laundry expenses
• Taxation Ruling TR 97/12 Income tax and fringe benefits tax: work-related expenses: deductibility of expenses on clothing, uniform and footwear
• Taxation Ruling TR 2003/16 Income tax: deductibility of protective items
• Taxation Ruling TR 94/22 Income tax: implications of the Edwards case for the deductibility of expenditure on conventional clothing by employees
• Taxation Determination TD 1999/62 Income tax: what are the criteria to be considered in deciding whether clothing items constitute a compulsory corporate uniform/wardrobe for the purposes of paragraph 30 of Taxation Ruling TR 97/12?

Complete this question if you had work-related clothing, laundry or dry-cleaning expenses.

If you don't have work-related clothing expenses, go to question D4 Work-related self-education expenses 2024.

What you need to answer this question

In all circumstances, you need to keep evidence such as diary records that show how you calculated your claim.

Where you claim a deduction for:

• buying, dry-cleaning, or repairing work-related clothing and footwear and your total work-related expenses claim is more than $300, you need to keep written evidence (such as receipts or invoices)
• buying, dry-cleaning, or repairing work-related clothing and footwear and your total work-related expenses claim is $300 or less, you can claim the amount you spent without written evidence
• laundry expenses (excluding dry-cleaning expenses) and
  • your total laundry claim is $150 or less, you can claim a deduction without written evidence
  • your total laundry claim is more than $150, you must have written evidence (such as receipts or invoices).

If your total claim for work-related expenses is more than $300, you must have written evidence for all of your work-related expenses. However, you can claim for laundry expenses up to $150 without written evidence. This doesn’t increase the $300 work-related expenses limit to $450 – see, Record keeping exceptions.

If you launder, dry or iron your work-related clothing, you can use a reasonable basis to calculate the amount, that is:

• $1 per load for work-related clothing
• 50c per load if you mix personal items of clothing with work clothing from one of the categories above.

You must claim any deductible work-related clothing, laundry or dry-cleaning expenses you incurred in earning that income at this question, if you received assessable income from your work as an employee outside of Australia that is shown on either:

• an income statement
• PAYG payment summary – foreign employment.

If you received assessable foreign employment income that is not shown on an income statement or a PAYG payment summary – foreign employment, you must claim your deductions at question 20 Foreign source income and foreign assets or property 2024.

Completing your tax return

To complete this question, follow steps 1 to 3 below.

Step 1

Add up all your deductible work-related clothing, laundry and dry-cleaning expenses.

Step 2

Write the total at question D3 – label C.

Step 3

Select the code from the table below that describes the main type of clothing you are claiming. Print the letter in the Claim type box at question D3 – label C.

Work-related clothing codes

Code	Type of work-related clothing
C	Compulsory work uniform
N	Non-compulsory work uniform
S	Occupation-specific clothing
P	Protective clothing

Where to go next

• Go to question D4 Work-related self-education expenses 2024.
• Return to main menu Individual tax return instructions 2024.
• Go back to question D2 Work-related travel expenses 2024.