Tradie Tax Deductions: What You Can Claim and How to Prove It

Updated 8 July 2026

Australian tradies can generally deduct what they spend to earn their income: tools and equipment, the business share of vehicle costs, protective clothing, phone and internet, insurance, licences renewals and training. The two rules that decide almost everything: the expense must be for work (not private), and you must be able to show a record of it.

The big ones for tradies

Tools and equipment

Deductible when used for work. Small business sole traders can use the instant asset write-off to deduct eligible assets outright rather than depreciating them — the threshold has been $20,000 per asset in recent years, but it’s legislated year by year, so check the current figure before buying big. Above the threshold, you depreciate. Keep the receipt either way; repairs and insurance on tools are deductible too.

Vehicle

Usually the biggest deduction a tradie has, and the one with the most specific rules — cents-per-km vs the 12-week logbook, and a separate regime for utes and vans over one tonne of payload. It's big enough that we've given it its own guide. The short version: home-to-work driving generally isn’t claimable, job-to-job and to-suppliers driving is, and your claim is only as good as your records.

Protective clothing and gear

• Steel-capped boots, hi-vis, hard hats, gloves, safety glasses, ear protection
• Sun protection for outdoor work — sunscreen, sunglasses, hats
• Laundry of protective and logoed workwear

Everyday clothing — jeans, plain shirts, regular boots — is not deductible even if you only wear it on site.

Phone, internet and home admin

Claim the work percentage of your phone and internet. Keep it honest and consistent — a representative four-week diary of usage is the ATO’s preferred basis. If you do your quoting and books from home, home-office running costs can be claimed under the ATO’s fixed-rate or actual-cost methods.

Other commonly missed deductions

• Public liability and income protection insurance (income protection outside super)
• Licence and ticket renewals — white card renewals, high-risk work licences (the initial licence to enter the trade is not deductible)
• Union and association fees
• Training that upgrades skills for your current work
• Accounting software, invoicing apps and your accountant’s fees
• Personal super contributions you claim as a deduction (mind the concessional cap and the notice-of-intent paperwork)
• Interest on business loans and the ATO’s general interest charge — note the GIC is slated to become non-deductible from 1 July 2025, another one to check current status on

What gets knocked back

• The commute. Home to the first site and back is private, unless you’re carrying bulky tools with no secure storage on site — a real but narrow exception.
• Fines. Parking and speeding fines are never deductible, even in work hours in the work ute.
• The private share. Claiming 100% of a phone or vehicle that’s partly personal is the fastest way to attract ATO attention.
• Meals on a normal work day. Lunch is private; overtime meal allowances and overnight travel are the exceptions with their own rules.

Records: the part that actually decides your refund

The deduction you can’t prove doesn’t exist. The ATO’s baseline is written evidence — receipts, invoices, diaries — kept for five years. In practice for a tradie that means one habit: capture the expense the moment it happens. TradieMate is built around that habit — snap the receipt, pick a category, and GST is tracked automatically so the expense lands in both your quarterly BAS and your end-of-year summary. See the expense screen in the tour, or compare your options in our sole trader app comparison.

This guide is general information, not tax, legal or financial advice. Rules and rates change — check current details with the ATO or a registered tax agent before acting on it.