Tax Deductions for IT Professionals (2025–26)

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

Software developers, engineers, analysts, network and support staff often work from home and buy their own technology. This guide covers what employed IT professionals can claim for 2025–26.

What you can claim

Working from home

• Fixed rate method: 70c per hour you work from home in 2025–26, covering energy, internet, phone use, stationery and computer consumables. You also claim depreciation on equipment such as a desk, chair and monitors separately.
• Actual cost method: the work-related portion of each actual running cost, with records for each one.
• See our working from home guide.

Computers, devices and software

• Laptops, monitors, keyboards, headsets and other equipment you use for work – claimed in full if $300 or less, otherwise depreciated (laptops 2 years, mobile phones 3 years).
• Software, cloud services and subscriptions used for work, apportioned for private use.
• The work-related portion of your mobile and internet (if you're not using the fixed rate method for these).

Self-education, certifications and memberships

• Courses, certifications and exam fees (for example, cloud or security certifications) that maintain or improve skills for your current role.
• Technical books, online learning subscriptions and conferences, plus related travel.
• Professional association membership and union fees.

Travel

• Travel to a client site or between workplaces, and overnight work travel you pay for.
• Travel from home if your home is your base of employment and you travel to other workplaces – this depends on your arrangements, so check with us.

What you can't claim

• Normal travel between home and the office, including on hybrid days.
• Equipment your employer provides or reimburses.
• Private use of devices, software, streaming services or gaming.
• Courses to get a new job in a different field.
• Everyday clothing, coffee or snacks while working from home.
• Occupancy expenses (rent, mortgage interest, rates) when you're an employee working from home.

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.
• For devices used privately, keep a 4-week representative diary of work use to support your percentage.
• 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.

Worked example

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

Lee is an employed software developer who works from home 3 days a week in 2025–26.

• Records 1,000 hours worked from home (example figure): 1,000 × 70c = $700;
• buys a monitor for $280 (example figure), used 100% for work: claim $280;
• buys an ergonomic chair for $650 (example figure): depreciated over its effective life;
• pays $400 for a cloud certification exam (example figure) related to current work: claim $400;
• pays professional membership fees of $250 (example figure).

Excluding the chair's depreciation, Lee's example claims total $1,630. Lee doesn't separately claim internet or phone because the 70c rate already covers them.

Common mistakes to avoid

• Claiming internet on top of the 70c rate.
• Claiming certifications aimed at a new career.
• Claiming 100% of a personal computer.

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: It professionals income and work related deductions
• ATO: Working from home expenses
• ATO: Phone and internet expenses
• ATO: 00025
• ATO: Assets costing more than $300
• ATO: Self-education expenses
• 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.