Tax Deductions for Building and Construction Workers
If you're on a building site, you're probably spending money on tools, protective gear, and getting to different job sites. Most of that is claimable — and the ATO knows tradies are big claimers.
This guide covers 30 deduction categories with 272+ specific items, plus income types and record-keeping requirements — all sourced from the ATO.
💰 Real-World Example
Mick: Mick is a carpenter who works across multiple sites. He claimed power tools ($1,200 depreciated), steel-cap boots ($180), sun protection ($90), and travel between sites (3,000 km = $2,550).
Result: ~$1,200 back on a $90k salary
Illustrative example only. Your situation may differ.
Deduction Categories
30
Specific Items
272
Income Types
0
Work-Related Deductions (30)
Amounts you do and don't include
- salary and wages, including cash or bonus payments
- compensation and insurance payments – for example, payments made under an income protection insurance policy to replace salary and wages.
- You must include all the income you receive during the income year as an employee in the building and construction industry in your tax return, this includes:
- Don't include as income any reimbursements you receive.
- Your income statement or payment summary will all show your salary, wages and allowances for the income year.
Allowances
- to help you pay for a work expense – for example, tools and equipment
- as compensation for an aspect of your work such as working conditions or industry peculiarities – for example, underground allowance
- as an amount for having special duties, skills or qualifications – for example, first aid qualifications.
Allowances not on your income statement or payment summary
- don't include it as income in your tax return
- can't claim any deductions for the work expenses the allowance covers.
- include the allowance as income in your tax return
- include a claim for the work expenses you incur in your tax return
- must have records of your expenses.
Allowances and claiming a deduction
- The following table sets out allowances you may receive and when you can claim a deduction.
- Example of allowance type
- Deduction (Yes or No)
- Compensation for an aspect of your work that is unpleasant, special or dangerous or for industry peculiarities
- Underground allowance
- These allowances don't help you pay for deductible work-related expenses
- An amount for certain expenses
- Tool and equipment allowance
- If you incur deductible expenses
- An amount for special skills
- A first aid certificate
- Mark is often required to work underground as part of his job. Mark's employer pays him an allowance for this. The training Mark requires to be able to work underground is provided by his employer.
- At the end of the income year, the allowance is on his income statement.
- Mark must include the amount of the allowance in his tax return, but he can't claim a deduction for any expenses against the allowance because he has not incurred any deductible expenses.
- The allowance compensates Mark for his special skills and additional duties. It's not to cover any expenses he might incur.
- Ronaldo's employer requires him to wear a compulsory uniform. Ronaldo is also required to launder and repair his compulsory uniform when necessary.
- Ronaldo's employer pays him a uniform allowance which is on his income statement. Ronaldo regularly washes his uniform and in winter, he also dry-cleans his jacket.
- Ronaldo must declare the uniform allowance as income in his tax return. He can also claim a deduction for cost of laundering and dry cleaning his compulsory uniform.
Reimbursements
- you don't include the reimbursement as income in your tax return
- you can't claim a deduction for them.
- Deductions for work expenses
- Record keeping for work expenses
Award transport payments (fares allowance)
- Allowances you receive from your employer for transport or car expenses that are paid under an award must be included in your tax return. You include these allowances as assessable income.
- You can claim a deduction for expenses covered by award transport payments , if the expenses are for work-related travel, and you have actually spent the money.
- You will need to be able to show how you work out your claim if we request this information.
Example: deduction allowable more than Award amount
- Chandra is an employee house painter. He uses his car to carry his bulky tools and equipment to and from work. Chandra's employer pays him an award transport (fares) allowance of $17.88 per day.
- The award rate on 29 October 1986 was $7.60 per day. The allowance is shown on Chandra's income statement.
- Chandra must declare the entire allowance as income in his tax return.
- Chandra can claim a deduction for the transport costs he incurs travelling from home to work sites, between work sites and from work sites home.
- If Chandra claims a deduction of more than $7.60 per day, he must provide evidence for the whole of his claim, not just the excess over $7.60 per day.
Example: no deduction for transport expenses
- Michael is a carpenter working at a factory that manufactures kitchens. He doesn't transport bulky tools or equipment to work.
- Even though Michael is not required to leave the factory at any time in the course of his working day, his employer pays him a fares allowance. The allowance is shown on Michael's income statement at the end of the income year.
- Michael can't claim a deduction for the cost of travel to and from work. It is a private expense.
Car expenses
- live a long way from your usual workplace
- have to work outside normal business hours (for example, weekend or early morning shifts).
- the tools or equipment are essential to perform your employment duties
- the tools or equipment are bulky, meaning that because of the size and weight, they are awkward to transport
- they can only be transported conveniently using a motor vehicle
- there is no secure storage for such items at the workplace.
- directly between separate jobs on the same day (provided neither of the workplaces is your home – for example, travelling from your first job as carpenter to your second job as a TAFE teacher
- to and from an alternate workplace for the same employer on the same day – for example, travelling between separate work sites for your employer
- from home directly to an alternate workplace – for example, travelling from home to complete a quote at a client's premises that isn't your regular work location.
- own the car
- lease the car (directly from the finance company)
- hire the car under a purchase agreement (with the car dealership or a finance company).
- vehicle with a carrying capacity of one tonne or more (such as a ute)
- vehicle that can transport 9 passengers or more (such as a minibus).
Example: transporting bulky tools and equipment
- of the size and weight, they are awkward to transport
- they can only be transported conveniently by a motor vehicle.
- the tools and equipment are essential for Andre to perform his work duties
- considered to be bulky
- there is no secure storage at his workplace.
Example: secure storage available
- Jocelyn works as an electrician on a large construction site. She drives to the site each workday. There is a secure fence around the construction site and security officers at the entrance. The employer provides each employee with their own tool locker with a combination lock.
- Joeclyn's tools are large and heavy. The tool locker provides plenty of space for Jocelyn to store her tools, however she chooses to take her tools home every day.
- Although her tools are bulky due to their size and weight, Jocelyn has a secure place to store them at the construction site. It is her personal choice to transport them between home and work each day. Jocelyn can't claim a deduction for her travel between home and work.
Example: tools and transport provided
- Priya's employer provides her with a van and the materials and tools she needs to carry out her work duties. Priya uses her own car to travel to her employer's head office where she picks up the work van and travels to her worksite.
- Priya can't claim a deduction for the travel between her home and work to pick up her work van. This is a private expense.
Example: travelling between workplaces
- Jack and Bill are carpenters who construct roof trusses and cabinets. They work on their designs from an office space and then travel to the client's home to construct and install their designs.
- Jack and Bill can claim a deduction for the cost of travel between the office and their client's houses.
- They can't claim a deduction for travel between their home and office, as this travel is to and from their regular workplace. The expenses are private.
Example: shifting workplaces
- Ramesh is a shop fitter and must travel to several worksites each day to provide quotes to clients and work on various jobs. He travels to the first location from his home and returns home at the end of the day from the last work site he worked.
- Ramesh can claim a deduction for his car expenses between his home and work because he has no fixed place of work and continually travels from one work site to another. Ramesh can also claim a deduction for his car expenses for the travel between each site during the day.
- If Ramesh only attended one site and worked there for several days until the job was finished, he would not be able to claim his car expenses for those days as he would not have shifting workplaces.
Example: unexpected travel to alternative workplace
- Bridie, a bobcat operator, arrives at her normal worksite. Her employer then sends her to another work site to cover for a sick operator.
- Bridie can claim a deduction for the travel between her normal work site and the alternate work site that isn't her regular workplace, and then home.
Example: vehicle other than a car
- Loc owns a vehicle with a gross vehicle mass of 2,402 kg and a kerb weight of 1,040 kg. The payload, or carrying capacity weight, of Loc's vehicle is:
- 2,402 kg − 1,040 kg = 1,362 kg
- As the vehicle's payload, or carrying capacity, is greater than 1,000 kg (or one tonne) Loc's vehicle doesn't meet the definition of a car.
- Loc can't claim using the logbook or cents per kilometre method. However, he can claim the actual vehicle expenses that relate to work travel.
Child care
- You can't claim a deduction for the cost of child care (including school holidays and before and after school care) when you're working. It's a private expense, and the expenses have no direct connection to earning your income.
Clothing and uniform expenses (including footwear)
- protective clothing – clothing with protective features and functions to protect you from specific risks of injury or illness at work. For example, steel-capped boots, fire-resistant clothing, or overalls that protect conventional clothing. Conventional clothes you wear at work are not regarded as protective clothing as they lack protective qualities designed for the risks of your work. This includes jeans, drill shirts, shorts, trousers, socks, closed shoes.
- occupation-specific – clothing that distinctly identifies you as a person with a particular profession, trade or occupation. For example, a judge's robes or a chef's chequered pants. Items traditionally worn in a profession are not occupation-specific where the clothing is worn by multiple professions.
- a compulsory uniform – clothing that your employer strictly and consistently enforces you wear by workplace agreement or policy and distinctly identifies either you as an employee working for a particular employer
- the products or services your employer provides
- a non-compulsory uniform – a uniform that is not compulsory to wear and that your employer registers on the Register of Approved Occupational Clothing.
Example: conventional clothing
- Richard, an apprentice carpenter, works on a building site. He wears jeans with t-shirts or long sleeve shirts at work as they are comfortable. While the jeans and shirts afford Richard some protection from skin abrasions when handling tools and building materials, they provide limited protection from injury.
- The jeans and shirts that Richard wears to work are commonly worn as conventional clothing. These don't have protective features or functions to protect the wearer or cope with rigorous working conditions.
- Richard can't claim a deduction for the costs he incurs to buy these items because they're conventional clothing and the cost is a private expense.
Example: protective clothing
- Saskia is a builder and works at an industrial park. It is a requirement that while on site all employees wear steel-capped boots and a helmet (hard hat). These items are necessary for Saskia to wear while at work as they provide protection from the risk of illness or injury posed by her income earning activities and the work environment.
- Saskia can claim a deduction for the costs she incurs as the items are protective. Saskia's expenses also were not paid for by her employer and the employer doesn't reimburse her.
Drivers licence
- You can't claim a deduction for the cost to get or renew your drivers licence , even if you must have it as a condition of employment. This is a private expense.
- You can claim a deduction for additional costs you incur to get a special licence or condition on your licence to perform your work duties. For example, the cost you incur to get a heavy vehicle permit.
Fines and penalties
- You can't claim a deduction for any fines or penalties you get when you either travel to work or incur during work. Fines may include parking and speeding fines or penalties. For example, a fine you receive for parking illegally outside your worksite.
First aid courses
- a designated first aid person
- need to complete a first aid training course to assist in emergency work situations.
- Building and construction employee expenses G–O
- Building and construction employee expenses P–S
- Building and construction employee expenses T–W
Glasses, contact lenses and anti-glare glasses
- You can't claim a deduction for prescription glasses or contact lenses , even if you need to wear them while working. These are private expenses.
- You can claim a deduction for the cost of protective glasses if you wear them to reduce the real and likely risk of illness or injury while working. Protective glasses include anti-glare or photochromatic glasses, sunglasses, safety glasses or goggles.
- You can only claim a deduction for the work-related use of the item.
Example: claiming sunglasses
- Mia is a carpenter and she works at a major construction site. She wears sunglasses to protect her eyes against the glare of the sun while working on site. She also needs to wear prescription glasses while driving, for her short-sightedness.
- She buys a pair of prescription sunglasses which counter the glare whilst working on site. She also buys a pair of prescription glasses for driving.
- Mia can claim a deduction for the cost of the prescription sunglasses as they protect her eyes from the glare of the sun while working. If Mia also uses her prescription sunglasses for personal purposes, she can only claim a deduction for the work-related use.
- Mia can't claim a deduction for the prescription glasses. These are a private expense as they don't provide Mia protection in her working environment.
Insurance of tools and equipment
- You can claim a deduction for the cost to insure your tools and equipment to the extent that you use them for work-related purposes.
Laundry and maintenance
- protective (for example, hi-vis jacket)
- occupation-specific and not a conventional, everyday piece of clothing such as jeans or general business attire
- a uniform either non-compulsory and registered by your employer on the Register of Approved Occupational Clothing or compulsory.
- $1 per load if it only contains work-related clothing from one of the categories above
- 50c per load if you mix personal items of clothing with work-related items from one of the categories listed above.
Example: laundry expenses
- Laura receives 3 company shirts with logos embroidered on them from her employer. Her employer requires her to wear these at work and has registered the shirt on the Register of Approved Occupational Clothing.
- Laura washes and dries her company shirts in a separate load of washing twice a week. Laura works 48 weeks during the year.
- She works out her claim of $96 for laundry expenses as follows:
- Number of claimable laundry loads per week × number of weeks = total number of claimable laundry loads
- 2 × 48 = 96
- Total number of claimable laundry loads × reasonable cost per load = total claim amount
- 96 × $1 = $96
- As her total claim for laundry expenses is under $150 ($96) Laura doesn't have to provide written evidence of her laundry expenses. Although Laura doesn't require evidence to prove her claim for laundry, if asked, she will need to show how she works out her claim.
Licences, permits and cards
- You can't claim the cost to get your initial licence, regulatory permit, cards or certificate to get a job. For example, a bobcat licence.
- You can claim a deduction for costs you incur to get or renew your licence, regulatory permit, card or certificate to continue to perform your work duties. For example, if you need to have a bobcat licence to get your job, you can't claim the initial cost to get the licence. However, you can claim the cost to renew the licence while you still need it for that job.
Example: getting and renewing a builders licence
- Marcus completes his training as a builder and is looking for a job in the industry. All the available jobs require Marcus to have at least 2 years' experience and a current builders licence.
- Marcus follows the process in his home state for applying for his builders licence. He pays the licencing fee of $388.80.
- Marcus can't claim a deduction for the cost of getting his builders licence as he incurs this cost to enable him to get a job.
- However, if Marcus is employed as a builder when his renewal for his builders licence is due he will be able to claim a deduction for the renewal of his builder licence.
Meal and snack expenses
- overtime meal expenses , but only if you buy and eat the meal while you are performing overtime and you receive an overtime meal allowance under an industrial law, award or agreement
- the cost of meals you incur when you are travelling overnight for the purpose of carrying out your employment duties ( travel expenses ).
- You can't claim a deduction for the cost of food, drink or snacks you consume during your normal working hours. Even if you receive a meal allowance, these are a private expenses.
Music streaming services, CDs, audio books or podcasts
- You can't claim a deduction for the cost of music streaming services, CDs, audio books, podcasts or devices that you use at work. Even if they're used to keep you motivated or occupied at work, these items aren't essential to earning your income. They are private expenses.
Newspapers and other news services, magazines and professional publications
- a direct connection between your specific work duties and the content
- the content is specific to your employment and isn't general in nature.
- The cost of newspapers, other news services and magazines are generally private expenses and not deductible.
- You can claim a deduction for the cost of buying or subscribing to a professional publication, newspaper, news service or magazine if you can show:
- If you use the publication for work and private purposes, you can only claim the portion that relates to your work use.
Overtime meal expenses
- you receive an overtime meal allowance under an industrial law, award or agreement
- the allowance is shown on your income statement or payment summary as a separate allowance
- you include the allowance in your tax return as income.
- up to the reasonable amount, you don't have to get and keep receipts
- more than the reasonable amount, you must get and keep receipts for all your expenses.
- you spent the money
- how you work out your claim.
Example: overtime meal expenses
- Building and construction employee expenses A–F
- Building and construction employee expenses P–S
- Building and construction employee expenses T–W
Parking fees and tolls
- You can't claim a deduction for parking at or near your regular place of work. You also can't claim a deduction for tolls you incur for trips between your home and work. These are private expenses.
- You can claim a deduction for parking fees and tolls you incur on work-related trips.
Example: parking fees
- Sasha is a project manager and drives her own car to work each day and parks in the secure parking centre next to the construction site where she works.
- Once a month Sasha drives her car to a training facility to complete mandatory training, in her role as a project manager. She pays to park at the training facility and her employer doesn't reimburse her.
- Sasha can't claim the cost she incurs to park at her regular place of work. However, she can claim her parking at the training facility as she incurs the expense on a work-related trip.
Phone, data and internet expenses
- provides you with a phone for work and pays for your usage
- reimburses you for the costs you incur.
- Mobile phone, mobile internet and other devices
- Home phone and internet expenses
Example: working out phone expenses
- Daniel is a construction manager and he uses his personal mobile phone for work purposes (mostly outgoing calls) when onsite. He is on a set mobile plan of $49 a month.
- He receives an itemised bill from his phone provider each month that includes details of his individual phone calls.
- At least once a year, Daniel prints out his monthly bill and highlights his work-related calls. He also makes notes on the itemised bill about who he has called – for example, his manager and clients.
- Out of the 300 phone calls he made in a 4-week period, Daniel works out 30 (10%) of the phone calls are for work. He applies that percentage to his monthly plan amount ($49 a month).
- He works out his claim for phone calls for work purposes as follows:
- Total work phone calls ÷ total number of phone calls = work use percentage for phone calls:
- 30 ÷ 300 = 0.10 (that is 10%)
- Daniel can claim 10% of the total bill of $49 for each month for work purposes:
- $49 × 0.10 = $4.90
- Since Daniel was only at work for 46 weeks of the year (10.6 months), he works out his work-related mobile phone expense deduction as follows:
- 10.6 months × $4.90 = $51.94
Example: work and private use
- Sylvette is a carpenter who uses her computer and personal internet account at home to access her work emails and manage her online ordering of materials for work. Sylvette uses her computer and internet for both work and private purposes.
- Sylvette keeps a diary for a 4-week period, recording the times she used the internet for work and private purposes. Sylvette's internet use diary showed 30% of her internet time was for work-related activities and 70% was for private use.
- As her internet service provider charge for the year was $1,200 she can claim:
- $1,200 × 0.30 = $360 as work-related internet use.
- If anyone else was accessing the internet connection, Sylvette needs to reduce her claim to account for their use.
Protective equipment and items
- supplies the protective items
- reimburses you for the cost you incur to buy the protective items.
- You can claim a deduction for the cost of protective items if you wear them to protect you from the real or likely risk of injury or illness in your work environment or while performing your work duties.
- To be considered protective, the equipment must provide a sufficient degree of protection against the risks of illness or injury you are exposed to in carrying out your work duties. Protective items can include safety glasses, helmets and breathing masks. For example, a construction worker can claim a deduction for the cost of steel-capped boots.
- You can also claim the costs you incur to repair, replace or clean protective items.
- You can't claim a deduction if your employer:
Example: protective items provided by employer
- Winnie works as a concreter on a construction site. She is required to wear a helmet, safety glasses, breathing mask and safety visor while on site. If she doesn't wear them, she is at risk of injury or illness.
- Winnie's employer provides the protective equipment and if she was to buy her own, her employer would reimburse her for these costs.
- Winnie can't claim a deduction for the helmet, safety glasses, breathing mask and safety visor as she doesn't incur any costs.
Repairs to tools and equipment
- You can claim a deduction for repairs to tools and equipment you use for work. If you also use them for private purposes, you can only claim an amount for your work-related use.
Self-education expenses
- maintains or improves the skills and knowledge you need for your current duties
- results in or is likely to result in an increase in your income from your current employment.
- doesn't have a connection with your current employment
- only relates in a general way to your current employment
- enables you to get employment or change employment.
- travel between your home and the place of education and then back home
- the first leg of the trip   when you travel from home to the place of education and then on to work
- when you travel from work to a place of education and then home
- travel between work and the place of education and then back to work.
- Higher Education Loan Programs (HELP): FEE-HELP and
- Higher Education Contribution Scheme-HELP (HECS-HELP)
- VET Student Loans (VSL)
- Australian Apprenticeship Support Loans (AASL)
- Student Financial Supplement Scheme (SFSS)
- Student Start-up Loans (SSL).
Example: self-education expenses
- Francesco is an apprentice, who as part of his apprenticeship travels to a technical college 2 consecutive days each fortnight. As the technical college is a long distance away, Francesco stays overnight and incurs costs for accommodation, meals and incidentals.
- Francesco can claim a deduction for the cost of travel to and from his place of education, overnight accommodation, meals and incidentals as the course directly relates to his current role.
Seminars, conferences and training courses
- You can claim a deduction for the cost of seminars, conferences and training courses that relate to your work as a building and construction employee.
- The costs you can claim include fares to attend the venue where the seminar, conference or training course is held and registration costs. If you need to travel and stay away from home overnight to attend such an event, you can also claim the cost of accommodation and meals.
- You may not be able to claim all of your expenses if attending a seminar, conference or training course is for both work-related and private purposes. If the private purpose is incidental, such as a catered lunch or a reception for delegates, you can still claim all your expenses. However, if the main purpose is not work-related, such as a holiday, you can only claim the direct costs. Direct costs include the registration costs.
- Where you have a dual purpose for attending the seminar, conference or training course you can only claim the work-related portion. For example, you add a holiday of one week to a training course that runs for one week, then you can only claim the work-related portion.
Stationery
- You can claim a deduction for the cost of logbooks, diaries, pens and notepads that you buy and use for work-related purposes.
Sunglasses, sunhats and sunscreen
- must work in the sun for extended periods
- use these items to protect you from the real and likely risk of illness or injury while at work.
- You can claim a deduction for the work-related use of sunglasses, sunhats and sunscreen lotions if you:
- This includes prescription sunglasses and anti-glare glasses.
- You can only claim a deduction for the work-related use of the products if you also wear them for private purposes.
Example: claiming sunhat and sunscreen
- Building and construction employee expenses A–F
- Building and construction employee expenses G–O
- Building and construction employee expenses T–W
Tools and equipment
- you use it for mainly to produce non-business assessable income
- it's not part of a set that together cost more than $300.
- it’s not identical, or substantially identical to, other items that together cost more than $300.
- cost more than $300
- is part of a set that together cost more than $300.
- is identical, or substantially identical to, other items that together cost more than $300.
Example: tool allowance
- include the whole amount of the allowance as income on her tax return
- claim a deduction of $300 for the expenses she incurred for the tools.
- Jan receives a yearly tool allowance of $500, and her tool expenses for the year are $300, to claim a deduction she would:
Example: depreciating (no immediate deduction)
- Anna needed a new set of 16 spanners for work. She couldn't afford the $352 cost for the complete set, so she bought them all individually throughout the income year.
- Although they only cost $22 each, Anna can't claim an immediate deduction for the spanners. This is because they are part of a set, she bought in the income year that cost more than $300.
- Anna can claim a deduction for the decline in value of the set, which cost a total of $352.
- If, in a following income year, Anna breaks one of the spanners and has to buy a replacement, she'll be able to claim an immediate deduction for the replacement. The replacement spanner won’t be part of a set she bought in that year that cost more than $300.
Example: effective life
- Tal buys an electric tool set on 5 September for $1,500 and only uses it for work-related purposes.
- He visits the ATO website and looks up the ruling on the effective life of depreciating assets. The ruling says the effective life of electric hand tools is 5 years.
- He works out the deduction for the decline in value of his tool set using the prime cost method in this way:
- Asset cost × (days held ÷ 365) × (work use percentage ÷ 5 years)
- If Tal used the electric hand tool for private purposes as well, he would have to multiply the amount calculated using the formula above by the work-related use percentage.
- Tal works out that he has held the tool for 300 days and calculates his deduction for the decline in value as:
- $1,500 × (300÷ 365) × (100% ÷ 5) = $246
- Tal can therefore claim $246 for the decline in value of his tool set in the first year. Using the same method, he will also be able to claim $300 per year in the following four years and $54 in the final (sixth) year.
Travel expenses
- travel for work
- sleep away from your home overnight in the course of performing your employment duties.
- you sleep in accommodation your employer provides
- you eat meals your employer provides
- your employer or a third party reimburses you for any costs you incur.
- you were away overnight
- you spent the money
- the travel directly relates to earning your employment income
- how you work out your claim.
- the allowance is not on your income statement or payment summary
- the travel allowance doesn't exceed the Commissioner's reasonable amount (the reasonable amount is the amount we set each year for determining whether an exception from keeping written evidence applies for accommodation, meal and incidental expenses which are covered by a travel allowance)
- you spent the whole amount on deductible accommodation, meal and incidental expenses, if applicable.
- you received a travel allowance from your employer for the expenses
- your deduction is less than the Commissioner's reasonable amount.
Example: living away from home allowance
- Joe is an employee project manager. He lives in the city with his family and applies for a job to work on a large construction project near a country town for 12 months.
- Joe receives a living-away-from-home allowance by the construction company to meet his accommodation and meal costs while he is working in the country town.
- The allowance isn't income and isn't shown on Joe's income statement. He can't claim a deduction for his accommodation and meal costs while living away for work. The expenses are private living expenses.
Example: reasonable allowance amount
- it isn't shown on his income statement
- it's less than the reasonable allowance amount
- he spends it all to cover his travel expenses.
Example: claim for less than reasonable allowance amount
- Derek works for a national company. His employer provides him with a travel allowance that covers the costs of his accommodation when he travels interstate for work. Derek doesn't receive an allowance for his meals or incidental expenses.
- The amount Derek claims, as a deduction for accommodation costs he incurs, is less than the reasonable allowance amount. This means he can only claim the amount he spent on accommodation. He doesn't have to keep records of his accommodation expenses.
- He does however have to keep records and other written evidence to support any deductions he claims for meals and incidental expenses.
- For more information, see TD 2024/3 Income tax: what are the reasonable travel and overtime meal allowance expense amounts for the 2024–25 income year?
Union and professional association fees
- You can claim a deduction for union and professional association fees you pay. You can use your income statement or payment summary as evidence of the amount you pay if it's shown on there.
Working from home expenses
- use one of the methods set out by us to calculate your deduction
- keep the records required for the method you choose.
- coffee, tea, milk and other general household items consumed while working from home which your employer may provide you at work
- costs that relate to your children's education, for example, iPads, desks, subscriptions for online learning
- expenses your employer pays for or reimburses you for, including setting up your home office
- the decline in value of items provided to you by your employer – for example, a laptop or a phone.
- PS LA 2001/6 Verification approaches for electronic device usage expenses
- TR 93/30 Income tax: deductions for home office expenses
- PCG 2023/1 Claiming a deduction for additional running expenses incurred while working from home
- Building and construction employee expenses A–F
- Building and construction employee expenses G–O
- Building and construction employee expenses P–S
- Income and allowances
- Record keeping for work expenses
✅ Deduction Checklist for Building and Construction Workers
Use this checklist at tax time to make sure you don't miss any deductions.
💡 Practical Tips
📱 Use the myDeductions Tool
Download the ATO app and use myDeductions to record expenses throughout the year. Much easier than collecting receipts at tax time.
🧾 The $300 Rule
You can claim up to $300 in work-related expenses without receipts — but you must have actually spent the money and it must be related to earning your income.
🏠 Working From Home
If you work from home, you can claim 67 cents per hour (revised fixed rate) for running expenses like electricity, internet, and phone. Keep a record of hours worked.
🚗 Car Expenses
Choose between the cents per km method (85c/km, max 5,000 km) or logbook method (actual expenses × business use %). A 12-week logbook is valid for 5 years if your circumstances don't change.
⚠️ Common Mistakes & ATO Audit Flags
The ATO actively audits building and construction workers claims. Avoid these common errors and know what triggers extra scrutiny.
❌ Common Mistakes
Claiming tools provided by employer as your own
Fix: Only tools YOU purchased are deductible. If your employer provided them, you can't claim.
Not depreciating expensive power tools
Fix: Tools over $300 must be depreciated. A $1,500 power tool has an effective life set by the ATO.
Forgetting sun protection and safety gear
Fix: Steel-cap boots, safety glasses, hard hats, sunscreen — all deductible when you pay for them yourself.
🔍 ATO Audit Flags
Tool claims significantly above industry average
ATO knows the average tradie tool claim (~$1,200). Claims of $5,000+ in tools attract attention.
Claiming travel to a single work site
Travel to your regular site from home is commuting (not deductible). Only travel between different sites during the day counts.
Data sourced from the Australian Taxation Office — Building and Construction Workers Guide. Last updated: 2026-03-14.