Tax Deductions for Pilots (2025–26)

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

Airline, charter, freight and helicopter pilots who are employees can claim licence renewals, medicals and some insurance, but not passports or simulators for fun.

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

What you can claim

Pilot-specific costs

• Licence renewals and endorsements needed for your current role.
• CASA aviation medicals for licence renewal, including travel to the medical.
• Loss of licence or salary continuance insurance, if payouts would be assessable income (not policies paying a one-off lump sum).
• The work-use portion of luggage.
• Visa fees required for your work, if not reimbursed.
• Repairs and batteries for watches with special functions needed for flying.
• Moisturiser and conditioner (work portion only), because of the cabin environment.
• Logbooks and flight bags.

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.

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.

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.

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

• Passports.
• Vaccinations.
• Gaming consoles or flight simulator games.
• Phone holders, watches or chronographs (other than repairs to special-function watches).
• Pre-employment medicals, or getting luggage to the airport.

Worked example

Example (illustrative figures only – not real client data): Ryan is an airline first officer. He pays his CASA medical, loss of licence insurance (payouts would be assessable), and a work visa, and replaces his flight bag.

2026–27 comparison: only $932 of these expenses reduce the standard deduction. On similar figures in 2026–27, it would usually be simpler to accept the automatic $1,000 standard deduction and not claim those items, while still claiming the $2,900 of union fees and insurance on top.

Checklist before you lodge

• Check whether your insurance pays an income stream (deductible) or a lump sum (not deductible).
• 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 passports or vaccinations.
• Claiming pre-employment medicals.

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

• Flight attendants
• all occupation and industry guides

ATO sources for this guide

• ATO: Pilots – income and work-related deductions
• ATO: Overnight travel expenses
• ATO: TD 2025/4 reasonable amounts (2025-26)
• 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: Self-education expenses
• ATO: Seminars, conferences and training courses
• 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.