Tax Deductions for Apprentices & Trainees (2025–26)

Updated for the 2025–26 income year, with 2026–27 changes noted. Reviewed 19 October 2026.

Starting an apprenticeship or traineeship usually means buying tools, boots and course materials while earning a modest wage. Many of those costs are deductible, which can mean a bigger refund. This guide covers apprentices and trainees in any trade or industry.

This guide covers 2025–26 tax returns (lodged from July 2026) and flags what changes in 2026–27. It follows the ATO's Apprentices and trainees – income and work-related deductions guide, rewritten in plain language with practical examples.

What you can claim

Tools, gear and study costs

• Tools and equipment you buy for work or training ($300 or less claimed immediately; dearer items depreciated).
• Protective clothing and footwear, such as steel caps, hi-vis, gloves and safety glasses.
• Course fees, textbooks and stationery for your apprenticeship or traineeship, if you paid them and they weren't reimbursed.
• Travel from work to TAFE or your training provider (and back to work). Travel from home to TAFE is generally not claimable.

Car expenses between workplaces

Driving between two workplaces, from your usual workplace to an alternative site, or to a client or supplier during the day is claimable. Normal trips between home and work are private, even if you live far away or work early or late. Use the cents per km method (88c per km for 2025–26, up to 5,000 km; 91c for 2026–27) or a logbook. See our car expenses guide.

Carrying bulky tools

Home-to-work trips are only claimable if you carry bulky tools or equipment that your employer requires you to use, that you can't do your job without, and that can't be stored securely at work. Choosing to bring tools isn't enough.

Uniforms, protective clothing and laundry

Compulsory uniforms, registered non-compulsory uniforms, occupation-specific clothing and protective clothing are claimable, along with the cost of washing them: the ATO accepts $1 per work-only load and 50c per mixed load. Plain conventional clothing (black pants, a white shirt, business attire) is not claimable, even if your employer requires it.

Phone, internet and devices

Claim the work-related percentage of your mobile phone, data and home internet. Work it out from a 4-week representative period of your itemised bills, and keep those bills. Devices over $300 are depreciated.

Parking, tolls, taxis and ride-share

Parking fees and tolls on work trips, plus taxis, ride-share or public transport between workplaces, are claimable. Parking at your regular workplace and fines are not.

Union and professional fees

Union fees and subscriptions to professional or trade associations related to your work are claimable. These don't reduce the 2026–27 standard deduction, so you can claim them on top of it.

What you can't claim

• Course fees your employer pays or reimburses, or that are covered by a government subsidy.
• Getting a licence for the first time (including a driver's licence or white card if it's needed to get the job).
• Fines, such as parking or speeding fines.
• Conventional clothing and ordinary footwear.

Apprentice support payments

Some government payments to apprentices are taxable and some aren't. Check what you received and whether it appears on your income statement before you lodge, or ask us.

Worked example

Example (illustrative figures only – not real client data): Jake is a first-year apprentice electrician. He buys a starter tool kit, steel-capped boots and his TAFE textbooks, and drives from his work depot to TAFE once a week.

2026–27 comparison: $1,837.80 of these expenses are the kind that reduce the new standard deduction. Because that is more than $1,000, claiming the actual expenses (with records) would give a bigger deduction than the standard deduction.

Checklist before you lodge

• Keep receipts for every tool. Photograph them, because thermal receipts fade.
• Log the dates and distance of work-to-TAFE trips.
• Check your income statement in myGov is marked 'tax ready' and every allowance is included.
• Remove any expense your employer paid for or reimbursed.
• Apportion anything used privately and keep a note of how you worked out the percentage.

Common mistakes to avoid

• Claiming course fees your employer reimbursed.
• Claiming travel from home to TAFE.
• Claiming a tool set costing more than $300 in full because each item looks cheap. Sets are treated as one item.

Record keeping

• You must have spent the money yourself and not been reimbursed, the expense must be directly related to earning your income, and you need a record to prove it.
• Keep receipts, invoices or bank statements for 5 years from when you lodge. The ATO app's myDeductions tool or photos of receipts are fine.
• If you use something for both work and private purposes, you can only claim the work-related portion – keep a diary or other evidence of how you worked that out.
• 2025–26: if your total work-related claims are $300 or less you don't need written evidence (but must be able to show how you worked the amount out), and laundry claims up to $150 can be made without written evidence using the ATO rates.
• From 2026–27: those $300 and $150 exceptions are removed. A new standard deduction of up to $1,000 applies automatically for eligible employees; if your actual work-related expenses are higher, you can claim them instead with records.

When to see an accountant

Talk to a registered tax agent if:

• this is your first tax return and you're unsure what's taxable;
• you received government apprentice payments;
• you're unsure whether an expense is private or work-related, or your claims are much higher than last year;
• you have an ABN, side business or rental property as well as your job;
• you have received an ATO letter, review or amended assessment.

Related guides

• Tradies and construction workers
• Tools and equipment
• all occupation and industry guides

ATO sources for this guide

• ATO: Apprentices and trainees – income and work-related deductions
• ATO: Cents per kilometre method
• ATO: Trips you can and can't claim
• ATO: Clothing, laundry and dry-cleaning expenses
• ATO myTax 2026: Work-related clothing, laundry and dry-cleaning
• ATO: Mobile phone, mobile internet and other devices
• ATO: Phone and internet expenses
• ATO: Parking, tolls, licences and fines
• ATO: Taxi, ride-share and public transport
• ATO: Union fees and subscriptions
• ATO: Professional memberships and accreditations
• ATO: Records you need to keep
• ATO: Standard deduction for work-related expenses
• ATO: Copyright notice

This guide is written in our own words. It draws on information published by the Australian Taxation Office, and some short phrases are quoted with attribution. Source material: © Australian Taxation Office for the Commonwealth of Australia. Top Accountants is not endorsed by, or affiliated with, the ATO.