The cost of travel expenses you incur must be related to work. These expenses may include:

• work-related car expenses
• expenses for motorcycles and vehicles with a carrying capacity of one tonne or more, or nine or more passengers
• actual expenses (such as any petrol, oil and repair costs) if you travel in a car that is owned or leased by someone else
• public transport, including taxi fares
• bridge and road tolls
• parking fees
• short-term car hire.

The cost of work-related daily car and travel expenses

You can claim the cost for traveling directly between two separate workplaces (you have 2 jobs for example). This include travelling from your normal workplace to an alternative workplace while you are still on duty, and back to your normal workplace or directly home, or from your home to an alternative workplace, and then to your normal workplace or directly home.

If your employer has offices in the city or town where your residence is located, your home office is not a place of business, even if your work requires you to work outside normal business hours.

Claiming car expenses

If the motor vehicle you drive is a car, and you are entitled to claim a deduction for your work-related car expenses.

From 1 July 2015 – two methods

• cents per kilometre method
• logbook method

You can claim a deduction for the decline in value (depreciation) of your car up to the value of the car limit if you use the logbook method.

The cost of buying, renting or repairing your uniforms clothing

These include:

• compulsory uniforms and corporate wardrobes – these are sets of clothing that identify you as an employee of an organisation, that has a strictly enforced policy that makes it compulsory for you to wear the uniform while at work
• a non-compulsory corporate uniform that your employer has registered with AusIndustry
• a single item of distinctive clothing (such as a jumper, shirt or tie with your employer’s logo) if it is compulsory for you to wear the item
• protective clothing and footwear to protect you from the risk of illness or injury, caused by your work or work environment.

You cannot claim a deduction for the cost of purchasing, cleaning or repairing a plain uniform or conventional clothing you wear to work, even if your employer tells you to wear it. This includes:

• everyday footwear, such as dress, casual or running shoes
• clothing you wear for medical reasons
• conventional clothing that is damaged at work.

The cost of laundry and maintenance expenses

You can claim a deduction for the cost of cleaning and maintaining clothing that meets the requirements of deductible clothing. This applies whether the clothing is purchased by you or supplied by your employer; and includes costs such as:

• laundromat expenses
• home laundry expenses
• actual dry-cleaning costs.

If you did the washing, drying or ironing yourself, you can use a reasonable basis to work out the amount it cost you, such as $1 per load for work-related clothing or 50 cents per load if other laundry items were included.

Records you must keep

If your claim for laundry expenses is more than $150 and your total claim for work-related expenses is more than $300 – not including car, meal allowance, award transport payment allowance and travel allowance expenses – the records you must keep include:

• receipts, or other written evidence of your expenses
• diary entries you make to record
  • your small expenses ($10 or less) totalling no more than $200 that you do not have a receipt for
  • expenses that you cannot get any kind of evidence for, regardless of the amount – for example, laundromat costs.

The cost of self-education expenses

You can claim for the cost that you incur when you do a course to get a formal qualification from a university, college, TAFE or other place of education. You can claim a deduction for self-education expenses that have a sufficient connection to your current work activities. For a course to be sufficiently connected to your current work activities, it must either:

• maintain or improve the specific skills or knowledge you need in your current employment
• result in, or be likely to result in, an increase in your income from your current employment.

Self-education includes:

• courses undertaken at an educational institution, whether it leads to a formal qualification or not
• attendance at work-related conferences or seminars
• self-paced learning and study tours, whether within Australia or overseas.

You may be able to claim the following if they are sufficiently connected to your work activities:

• the costs of degrees, diplomas, certificates and other awards that are completed via correspondence or the internet
• the cost of attending seminars, conferences or education workshops including formal education courses provided by professional associations.

The cost of self-improvement or personal development courses is generally not deductible. Many courses of this type have a strong philosophical or spiritual component and are generally not sufficiently related to your income earning activities.

The cost of self-education-related expenses

You can claim for the study-related items such as:

• textbooks, stationery, course fees, student union fees, student services and amenities fees
• decline in value (depreciation) of equipment you use in your study, such as a computer and laptop
• car expenses and public transport fares when you travel in either direction between your
  • home and your place of education
  • workplace and place of education.

You may need to reduce your claim for self-education expenses by $250 if they are connected with a course of education provided by an educational institution to gain qualifications for use in a profession, business, trade or employment. A mathematical calculation is applied to work out if you need to apply the $250 reduction to your claim. 

The cost of attending conferences, seminars and training courses

You can claim a deduction for travel expenses (fares, accommodation and meal expenses if you are required to sleep away from home), registration and conference material costs incurred when you attend work-related conferences, seminars and training courses.

If your attendance at the event is only incidental to a private activity (such as a holiday) then only the expenses related to the work-related activity are deductible. The cost of accommodation, meals and travel would not be deductible. If the main purpose of your travel is attending the conference, seminar or training course, you can claim a deduction for the expenses you incurred.

Expenses you cannot claim

You cannot claim a deduction for work-related self-education expenses, for a course that either:

• relates only in a general way to your current employment or profession
• will enable you to get new employment.

If a course of study is too general in terms of your current income-earning activities, the necessary connection between the self-education expense and the income-earning activity does not exist.

You cannot claim contributions you or the Australian Government make under HECS-HELP or repayments you make under the Higher Education Loan Program or the Student Financial Supplement Scheme or the Trade Support Loan Program.

Records you must keep

You must keep the following records:

• written evidence including full details of the course you have undertaken, such as an academic record, which includes all of the following  
• a list of all items claimed,
• Original receipts or other documentary evidence for each item claimed.

The cost of running a home office

You can claim a deduction for home office expenses if you carry out income-producing work at home. As a general rule, deductions are only available for running expenses. Running costs expenses include the decline in value (depreciation) of home office equipment, such as computers and telecommunications equipment – if your equipment costs $300 or less, you can claim a full deduction for the work-related portion, the cost of heating, cooling and lighting your home office that is more than the amount you would ordinarily have to pay if you did not work from home, the costs of repairs to your home office furniture and fittings.

Occupancy expenses do not usually qualify as a deduction for tax purposes as these expenses are private or domestic in nature.

As an employee in the information technology industry, it is more common that you maintain an office, or study at home, as a matter of convenience. It would be rare for an employee in your industry to be able to claim occupancy expenses, such as rent and mortgage interest. In limited circumstances, you may be able to claim a deduction if your home office is considered to be a ‘place of business’.

The following factors – none of which is conclusive on its own – may indicate whether or not an area set aside has the character of a ‘place of business’:

• the area is clearly identified as a place of business
• the area is not readily suitable or adaptable for use for private or domestic purposes in association with the home generally
• the area is used exclusively, or almost exclusively, for carrying on a business
• the area is used regularly for client or customer visits.

Working out your claim

To claim a deduction for the electricity and gas you use and the decline in value of your office furniture, you can claim either of the following:

• a deduction for your actual expenses – you will need to keep a diary of the details of your actual costs and your work-related use of the office
• a deduction you work out at a rate of 45 cents per hour – the fixed rate covers heating, cooling, lighting and the decline in value (depreciation) of furniture in your home office.

Records you must keep

The records you must keep include:

• receipts or other written evidence of your expenses, including receipts for depreciating assets you have purchased – for example, your computer
• diary entries you make to record  

The cost of work-related tools and equipment and supplies: calculator, electronic organizers, cables, storages, memory cards, USB

The cost of short training courses

Training courses: like first aid training, occupational health and safety (OH&S) training, technical updates, conference and seminars, deduction includes course fees, books, stationary, internet connection, telephone calls, tools and equipment and travelling to and from the course, can also deduct any accommodation and meal expenses if required to stay away overnight for your course.

The cost of union or professional association membership fees