myTax 2024 Other work-related expenses

Things to know

Complete this section if you incurred any other work-related expenses as an employee and have not already claimed anywhere else on your tax return.

To claim a deduction for a work-related expense:

• you must have spent the money yourself and weren't reimbursed
• it must be directly related to earning your income
• you must have a record to prove it (usually a receipt).

You can only claim a deduction for the work-related portion of an expense. You can't claim a deduction for any part of an expense that is not directly related to earning your income or that is private.

Where items you use for work cost:

• More than $300 or is part of a set that together cost more than $300 – claim a deduction for the cost over the life of the item (decline in value). See Guide to depreciating assets.
• $300 or less – claim an immediate deduction for the whole cost.

If your total claim for work-related expenses is more than $300, you must have written evidence to prove your claims.

You can claim

Other work-related expenses include:

• union fees and subscriptions to trade, business or professional associations
• overtime meal expenses, if you received an overtime meal allowance from your employer that was paid under an industrial law, award or agreement, and you have:
  • purchased and consumed the meal during your overtime
  • included the amount of the meal allowance as income at Salary, wages, allowances, tips, bonuses, and
  • written evidence, such as receipts, if your claim was more than $35.65 per meal.
• reference books, technical journals and trade magazines
• the work-related portion of tools and equipment, such as a computer or office furniture and professional libraries; you may be able to claim
  • an immediate deduction for the cost of depreciating assets costing $300 or less
  • a deduction for the decline in value of an item that cost more than $300 over its effective life (however, if you no longer own or use an item and you previously claimed a deduction for its decline in value, you may need to make a balancing adjustment – see Guide to depreciating assets).
• the work-related portion of items that protect you from the risk of injury or illness posed by your work or your work environment, such as 
  • hard hats, safety glasses, sunscreens and other protective items
  • but not protective clothing and footwear, which you claim at Work-related clothing, laundry and dry-cleaning expenses 
• the work-related portion of the following costs
  • interest on money borrowed to buy tools and equipment
  • repair costs for the tools and equipment
  • phone or internet usage (if you haven't already claimed working from home expenses using the fixed rate method)
  • phone rental, if you can show you were on call or were regularly required to phone your employer or clients while away from your workplace
  • additional running expenses you incurred as a result of working from home
  • COVID-19 test expenses.

Claim at this section any work-related expenses incurred in earning assessable foreign employment income shown on an income statement or PAYG payment summary – foreign employment provided you have not already claimed the expense at another section.

Working from home expenses

There are 2 methods you can choose to calculate your deduction for working from home expenses as long as you meet the working criteria and record keeping requirements:

Fixed rate method

• Fixed rate method – 67 cents per hour worked from home
  • This rate covers the additional running expenses that you incur as a result of working from home for energy expenses (electricity and/or gas), internet and data expenses, mobile and/or home phone usage expenses, stationery and computer consumables.
  • You don’t need a separate home office or dedicated work area to use this method.
  • The fixed rate method doesn’t cover the decline in value of depreciating assets used for work.
  • You must have a record of the actual number of hours you worked from home during the entire income year. This could be a timesheet, roster, a diary or any other document provided it is kept contemporaneously and records the hours you worked from home.
  • You must have at least one record for each of the expenses you incurred that the rate per hour includes, for example, if you incurred electricity and internet expenses, keep one bill for each expense.

To work out your claim, visit calculate your deduction which includes our home office expenses calculatorThis link opens in a new window.

Actual cost method

Use the actual cost method to claim the actual work-related portion of all your running expenses, which you need to calculate on a reasonable basis.

For more information, see

• Practical Compliance Guideline PCG 2023/1 Claiming a deduction for additional running expenses incurred while working from home – ATO compliance approach
• Taxation Ruling TR 93/30 Income tax: deductions for home office expenses
• Taxation Ruling TR 2003/16 Income tax: deductibility of protective items
• Taxation Ruling TR 2004/6 Income tax: substantiation exception for reasonable travel and overtime meal allowance expenses
• Taxation Determination TD 2023/3 Income tax: what are the reasonable travel and overtime meal allowance expense amounts for the 2023–24 income year?
• Law Administration Practice Statement PS LA 2001/6 Verification approaches for electronic device usage expenses
• Law Administration Practice Statement PS LA 2005/7 Substantiating an individual's work-related expenses.

Related page

Claiming deductions
How to claim deductions in your return using myTax.

You can't claim

You can't claim a deduction for:

• the cost of entertainment, fines and penalties
• private expenses, such as childcare expenses and fees paid to social clubs
• coffee, tea, milk and other general household items your employer may otherwise have provided you with at work
• costs related to children and their education including buying equipment such as iPads and desks
• the decline in value of items primarily for use in your employment if the item was provided to you by your employer, or some or all of the cost of the item was paid or reimbursed by your employer, and the benefit was exempt from fringe benefits tax. Items include laptops, portable printers, personal digital assistants, calculators, mobile phones, computer software, protective clothing, briefcases and tools of trade.

Generally, you can't claim a deduction for occupancy expenses such as rent, rates, mortgage interest and insurance.

Don’t show at this section

Don’t show the following at this section:

• Expenses you incurred in earning assessable foreign employment income not shown on an income statement or PAYG payment summary – foreign employment, go to Foreign employment.
• Any balancing adjustment profit, go to Other income. Any balancing adjustment profit calculated in the Depreciation and capital allowances tool shows automatically at Other income.
• Expenses you incurred for protective clothing and footwear, go to Work-related uniform, occupation specific or protective clothing.

Completing this section

You may need:

• receipts, invoices or written evidence from your supplier or association
• other written evidence.

We:

• pre-fill your tax return with other work-related expense information you uploaded from myDeductions
• show your union and professional fees from the Income statements and payment summaries section.

Check them and add any other work-related expenses that have not pre-filled.

To claim other work-related expenses, you must first show income from salary and wages or foreign employment income in the Income statements and payment summaries section.

To personalise your return to show other work-related expenses, at Personalise return select:

• You have deductions you want to claim
• Work-related expenses.

To show your other work-related expenses, at Prepare return select 'Add/Edit' at the Deductions banner.

At the Other work-related expenses banner:

1. For each other work-related expense not pre-filled in your tax return, select Add, and  
   • Enter Your description. To assist in record keeping, add a short description of your expense.
     If you're claiming a deduction for working from home expenses, in your description include the method you used to calculate the deduction (either 'Fixed rate' or 'Actual cost').
   • Enter the Amount.
     If you're using the fixed rate method to claim a deduction for working from home expenses, include the dollar amount (not the number of hours you are claiming for).
     The Depreciation and capital allowances tool can help you to work out any decline in value. It can also work out any deductible balancing adjustment when you stop holding a depreciating asset. Access this tool when you add your other work-related expenses.
     Fields from this tool can't be adjusted in myTax. To make any adjustments, or to add new assets to the tool, select 'Use the depreciation and capital allowances tool' link.
2. Select Save.
3. Select Save and continue when you have completed the Deductions section.

Watch: The following video shows you how to use the Depreciation and capital allowances tool.

You need to keep records for 5 years (in most cases) from the date you lodge your tax return.

Our myDeductions tool is free to use and is available through the ATO app. The tool makes it easier and more convenient to keep records of your expenses and income in one place, including photos of your receipts and invoices.