Tax Deduction for Self Education? 2025–26 Guide

Updated for the 2025–26 income year (tax returns lodged from 1 July 2026), with 2026–27 changes noted. Reviewed 19 October 2026.

You may be able to claim self-education expenses if your study is work-related – for example, a course at a university or TAFE, a work-related seminar or conference, or a self-paced course.

1. When are self-education expenses deductible?

The study must have a sufficient connection to your current employment, and at the time you incur the expense it must:

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

You can't claim study that only relates to your job in a general way, or that's designed to help you get a new job or change careers.

From ATO examples: a registered nurse specialising in intensive care, whose pay will rise once qualified, can claim. A personal carer studying a Bachelor of Nursing to become a registered nurse (different duties) can't.

2. Expenses you can claim

• course and tuition fees (not HECS-HELP contributions)
• student and amenities fees, textbooks, journals, stationery
• depreciating assets: full cost if $300 or less; decline in value if more (work/study-use portion)
• internet and running costs if you study at home (but not occupancy costs like rent)
• transport: home to place of education and back, work to place of education and back to work, home → education → work, or work → education → home (the first leg only for the last two)
• accommodation and meals if you travel and stay overnight for the course

3. Expenses you can't claim

• repayments of HELP, VET Student Loans, Australian Apprenticeship Support Loans and similar loans
• fees under HECS-HELP
• courses that let you start a new career or get a new job
• costs your employer pays or reimburses

4. What happened to the $250 reduction?

It's gone. Before 1 July 2022, the first $250 of certain self-education expenses wasn't deductible. That reduction was removed for expenses incurred from 1 July 2022, so eligible expenses can now be claimed in full. It's only relevant if you're amending a 2021–22 or earlier return.

5. Worked example

Example (illustrative figures only): Francesco, an employed painter, pays $3,125 for a 12-week course in a new painting technique and drives from the building site to the course 3 nights a week. He can claim the course fees and the car trips from the site to the course. He can't claim the trip home from the course.

6. What changes from 1 July 2026

Work-related self-education costs reduce the new $1,000 standard deduction that eligible employees receive automatically from 2026–27. If your course costs are significant, claim them in full with records.

Related: travel expenses, nurses and teachers guides.