Tax Deductions for Cleaners (2025–26)

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

Whether you're an office, domestic, hospital or commercial cleaner, you may be able to claim work expenses you pay for. This guide is for employed cleaners for 2025–26. If you run your own cleaning business with an ABN, see our sole trader guide.

What you can claim

Protective clothing and uniforms

• Protective items such as gloves, non-slip shoes, aprons, overalls, masks and safety glasses, if your employer doesn't provide them.
• A compulsory uniform with your employer's logo.
• Laundry for those items ($1 per work-only load, 50c mixed).

Cleaning products and equipment

• Cleaning products, cloths and equipment you buy yourself to use for work and aren't reimbursed for.
• Equipment such as a vacuum cleaner used for work – claimed in full if $300 or less, otherwise depreciated, and apportioned for any private use.

Car and travel

• Driving between cleaning jobs or sites during the day (88c per km for 2025–26, up to 5,000 km, or logbook).
• Driving from home to work if you need to carry bulky equipment your employer requires you to use and there's no secure storage at the site.

Other costs

• The work-related portion of your phone.
• Union fees.
• Police checks or security clearances required by your current employer (not for getting the job).

What you can't claim

• Normal travel between home and work.
• Everyday clothing and runners, even if you only wear them to work.
• Products or equipment your employer supplies or reimburses.
• Meals, unless you received an overtime meal allowance (reasonable amount $38.65 in 2025–26).
• Gym or fitness costs.

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.

A note for cleaning businesses

If you run a cleaning business and pay contractors, you may need to lodge a Taxable Payments Annual Report (TPAR) by 28 August each year. You must register for GST once turnover reaches $75,000. Our BAS and bookkeeping services can help.

Worked example

All figures below are example figures only, for a hypothetical person.

Maria is an employed commercial cleaner in 2025–26 who:

• buys gloves, masks and non-slip shoes for $190 (example figure);
• washes her uniform in work-only loads twice a week for 48 weeks: 96 × $1 = $96;
• drives between three sites each night, recording 1,500 km (example figure) for the year: 1,500 × 88c = $1,320;
• pays union fees of $400 (example figure).

Total example claim: $2,006.

Common mistakes to avoid

• Claiming travel from home to your first site.
• Claiming cleaning products your employer supplies.
• Claiming plain clothing.

Checklist before you lodge

• 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.

When to see an accountant

Talk to a registered tax agent if:

• 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.

ATO sources for this guide

• ATO: Cleaners income and work related deductions
• ATO myTax 2026: Work-related clothing, laundry and dry-cleaning
• ATO: Cents per kilometre method
• ATO: Tools and equipment
• ATO: Records you need to keep
• ATO: Standard deduction for work-related expenses
• ATO: Work out if you need to lodge a tpar
• ATO: Registering for GST
• 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.