Tax Deduction for Work Clothing & Uniform? 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.

Do you need to wear a uniform or protective gear at work? Then you may be able to claim the cost of buying, repairing and cleaning it. But most everyday clothing – even clothes you only wear to work – can't be claimed.

1. What work clothing can I claim?

You can claim clothing, uniforms and footwear that fall into one of these categories:

• Compulsory uniform – clothing your employer strictly and consistently requires you to wear (by policy or agreement) that distinctly identifies you with that employer, such as a shirt with the company logo.
• Non-compulsory uniform – only if your employer has registered it on the Register of Approved Occupational Clothing.
• Occupation-specific clothing – clothing that identifies a particular occupation and isn't everyday wear, such as a chef's chequered pants or a judge's robes.
• Protective clothing – items that protect you from a real risk of injury or illness at work, such as steel-capped boots, hi-vis vests, fire-resistant clothing, non-slip shoes, smocks or overalls that protect your clothes.

2. What you can't claim

• Conventional clothing – everyday items like black trousers, white shirts, jeans, drill shirts, plain closed shoes or business suits, even if your employer tells you to wear them.
• Clothing your employer buys, replaces or reimburses.
• Laundry of conventional clothes.

Example (from ATO guidance): an aged-care nurse must wear a polo shirt with her employer's logo plus black pants and black shoes. She can claim the logo shirts (compulsory uniform) but not the pants or shoes, which are conventional clothing.

3. Laundry and dry-cleaning

You can claim the cost of washing, drying and ironing eligible work clothing. The ATO accepts:

• $1 per load if the load contains only eligible work clothing
• 50 cents per load if you mix in other items

Dry-cleaning and repairs are claimed at actual cost with receipts.

Example (illustrative figures only): Linh washes her compulsory uniform in a separate load twice a week for 48 weeks: 2 × 48 = 96 loads × $1 = $96.

4. Records for 2025–26

• Keep receipts for clothing you buy.
• For laundry claims of $150 or less (excluding dry-cleaning), you don't need written evidence, but you must be able to show how you worked out the claim. This isn't an automatic deduction.
• If your total work-related expenses are more than $300, you need written evidence for all claims (laundry within the $150 exception aside).

5. What changes from 1 July 2026

From the 2026–27 income year, the $150 laundry and $300 work-expense record-keeping exceptions no longer apply. The ATO will still accept $1 / 50c per load as the way to work out laundry costs, but if you claim work-related expenses you'll need written evidence for them. At the same time, eligible employees get an automatic standard deduction of up to $1,000, reduced by any work-related expenses (including uniforms and laundry) you claim. Many people with small clothing claims will simply take the standard deduction.

Related: sun protection and PPE and our occupation deduction guides.