Tax Deductions for Engineers (2025–26)

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

Civil, mechanical, electrical, mining, software and other engineers can claim costs related to their current role, from site safety gear to professional memberships.

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

What you can claim

Engineering-specific costs

• Protective clothing and equipment for site work: hard hats, steel caps, hi-vis, protective glasses and earmuffs.
• Renewal of licences or registrations you need (for example, engineering registration in your state).
• Professional publications, standards and technical references for your current work.
• Insurance on your own work tools and equipment.
• Award transport payments: if you receive them, you can claim the matching transport expense.

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.

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.

Training and self-education

Course fees, textbooks and seminars are claimable if they maintain or improve the skills you use in your current job, or are likely to increase your income from it. Study to get a new job, or general interest courses, can't be claimed, and neither can study loan (HELP) repayments. You can't claim costs your employer pays or reimburses.

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.

Overnight work travel

If you have to travel and sleep away from home for work, you can claim accommodation, meals and incidentals you paid for and weren't reimbursed for. If you get a travel allowance, include it as income unless it's left off your income statement and you don't claim the expenses. Keep receipts, and a travel diary for trips of 6 or more nights in a row.

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

• Getting registered for the first time.
• Further study aimed at a new career or role.
• Conventional business clothing.
• Travel between home and your regular office or site.

Worked example

Example (illustrative figures only – not real client data): Hannah is a civil engineer who spends part of her week on construction sites. She pays for her own safety gear, renews her professional registration and buys technical standards.

2026–27 comparison: $2,532 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. The $560 of union or professional fees can be claimed either way.

Checklist before you lodge

• Keep a diary of site visits and kilometres.
• Keep invoices for registration and membership renewals.
• 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 the first registration or a master's degree aimed at a new field.
• Claiming home-to-site travel when the site is your regular workplace.

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:

• 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

• IT professionals
• Mining and FIFO workers
• all occupation and industry guides

ATO sources for this guide

• ATO: Engineers – 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: Self-education expenses
• ATO: Seminars, conferences and training courses
• ATO: Mobile phone, mobile internet and other devices
• ATO: Phone and internet expenses
• ATO: Overnight travel expenses
• ATO: TD 2025/4 reasonable amounts (2025-26)
• 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.