Complete this section if you incurred travel expenses in performing your work as an employee.
Things to know
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).
If the expense was for both work and private purposes, you can only claim a deduction for the work-related portion.
If your total claim for work-related expenses is more than $300, you must have written evidence to prove your claims.
Work-related travel expenses include:
- public transport, air travel and taxi fares
- short-term car hire
- meal, accommodation and incidental expenses you incur while away overnight for work
- actual expenses such as petrol, repair and maintenance costs, that you incur to travel in a car that is owned or leased by someone else
- bridge and road tolls, and parking fees for
- cars (don't claim these at 'Work-related car expenses')
- motorcycles and vehicles with a carrying capacity of one tonne or more, or nine or more passengers
- expenses for motorcycles and vehicles with a carrying capacity of one tonne or more, or nine or more passengers, such as utility trucks and panel vans.
You can claim
You can claim the cost of trips you undertake while performing your work duties. This may also include trips between your home and your workplace if:
- you used the vehicle because you had to carry bulky tools or equipment that are essential to perform your employment duties and could not leave at your workplace (for example, an extension ladder or cello)
- your home was a base of employment (that is, you were required to start your work at home and travel to a workplace to continue your work for the same employer)
- you had shifting places of employment (that is, you regularly worked at more than one site each day before returning home).
Work-related travel expenses also include the cost of trips:
- between two separate places of employment when you have a second job, providing one of those places is not your home
- from your normal workplace or your home to an alternative workplace that is not a regular workplace (for example, a client’s premises) while you are on duty
- from an alternative workplace that is not a regular workplace back to your normal workplace or directly home.
If the travel was partly private, you can claim only the work-related part.
Claim at this section any work-related travel expenses incurred in earning assessable foreign employment income shown on an income statement or PAYG payment summary – foreign employment.
If you received an award transport payment from your employer, you can claim a deduction for work-related transport expenses these payments cover.
To claim meal, accommodation and incidental expenses incurred when you travelled away overnight for work you must:
- have been required to travel as part of performing your work duties
- only be working away from home for a relatively short period or periods of time (not living away from home)
- not have incurred the expenses because of a choice you made about where to live
- have a permanent home at a location away from the work location to which you are travelling
- have paid the expenses yourself and not been reimbursed for them.
Travel expenses includes information about:
- evidence you need if you wish to claim meal, accommodation and incidental expenses you incurred when you travelled away overnight for work
- if you received a travel allowance to cover accommodation, food, drink or incidental expenses.
If your employer provided a car for you or your relatives’ exclusive use (including under a salary sacrifice arrangement) and you or your relatives were entitled to use it for non-work purposes:
- you can't claim a deduction for work-related expenses for operating the car even if the expenses relate directly to your work, such as
- petrol
- repairs
- other maintenance
- you can claim expenses for a work-related use of the car, such as
- parking
- bridge and road tolls.
Parking at or travelling to a regular workplace is not ordinarily considered to be a work-related use of the car.
If you no longer own or use an item costing over $300 (such as a ute or van with a carrying capacity of a tonne or more) and you previously claimed a deduction for its decline in value, you may need to make a balancing adjustment.
For information on:
- travel deductions for employees, see
- Taxation Ruling TR 2021/1 Income tax: when are deductions allowed for employees' transport expenses?
- Taxation Ruling TR 2021/4 Income tax and fringe benefits tax: employees: accommodation and food and drink expenses, travel allowances, and living-away-from-home allowances
- shifting places of employment, see Taxation Ruling TR 95/34 Income tax: employees carrying out itinerant work – deductions, allowances and reimbursements for transport expenses.
- reasonable allowance amounts, see Taxation Determination TD 2021/6 Income tax: what are the reasonable travel and overtime meal allowance expense amounts for the 2021–22 income year? together with Taxation Ruling TR 2004/6 Income tax: substantiation exception for reasonable travel and overtime meal allowance expenses.
Related page
Claiming deductions
You may be able to claim deductions for work-related expenses you incurred while performing your job as an employee.
You can't claim
You can't claim normal trips between your home and your workplace, even if:
- you did minor work-related tasks at home or between home and your workplace
- you travelled between your home and workplace more than once a day
- you were on call
- there was no public transport near work
- you worked outside normal business hours
- your home was a place where you ran your own business and you travelled directly to a place of employment where you worked for somebody else.
Do not show at this section
Don't show the following at this section:
- Expenses (apart from bridge and road tolls, and parking fees) relating to a car you owned, leased or hired under a hire purchase agreement where the expense is not related to motorcycles and vehicles with a carrying capacity of one tonne or more, or nine or more passengers, such as utility trucks and panel vans, go to Work-related car expenses
- 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
- For any balancing adjustment, show your
- losses at Other work-related expenses
- profits at Other income
Any balancing adjustment amounts calculated in the Depreciation and capital allowance tool will show automatically.
Completing this section
You must have written evidence for the whole of your claim.
We pre-fill your tax return with work-related travel expense information you uploaded from myDeductions. Check them and add any work-related travel expenses that have not pre-filled.
To claim work-related travel 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 work-related travel expenses, at Personalise return select:
- You had deductions you want to claim.
- Work-related expenses.
To claim your work-related travel expenses, at Prepare return select 'Add/Edit' at the Deductions banner.
At the Work-related travel expenses banner:
- For each work-related travel 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.
- enter the Amount.
The Depreciation and capital allowances tool can help you to work out any decline in value deduction. It can also work out any deductible balancing adjustment when you stop holding a depreciating asset. Access this tool in the Deductions section.
Fields from this tool can't be adjusted in myTax. To make any adjustments, or to add new assets to the tool, select the 'Use the depreciation and capital allowances tool' link.
- Select Save.
- Select Save and continue when you have completed the Deductions section.
You need to keep records for five 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.
These myTax 2022 instructions are about travel expenses you incur in the course of performing your work as an employee.