Tax Deductions for Truck Drivers (2025–26)

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

Truck drivers have some of the most specific deduction rules in the tax system, especially for meals on overnight trips. This guide is for employee truck drivers for 2025–26. Owner-drivers with an ABN should also see our sole trader guide.

What you can claim

Meals and incidentals when you sleep away from home

• When you travel overnight for work and take your mandatory long rest break away from home (including in your sleeper cab), you can claim meals and incidentals you pay for, such as showers.
• The ATO's reasonable amounts for truck drivers for 2025–26 (TD 2025/4) are $31.15 breakfast, $35.55 lunch and $61.30 dinner. For 2026–27, refer to TD 2026/4.
• If you received a travel allowance and your claim is no more than the reasonable amount, you don't need written evidence – but you must still be able to show you were travelling for work and spent the money (for example, a work diary, bank records and pay slips).
• Accommodation you pay for (not if you sleep in the cab).

Licences, medicals and fees

• The extra cost of a heavy vehicle licence condition or a special permit you need for your current job (not a standard driver's licence renewal).
• Compulsory medical checks required by your current employer (not pre-employment medicals).
• Union fees, and log books or work diaries you buy.

Clothing and protective items

• Compulsory uniforms, hi-vis clothing, steel-capped boots, gloves and safety glasses, and their laundry ($1/load work-only, 50c mixed).
• Sunscreen, sunglasses and hats if you work outdoors (for example, loading and unloading).

Other costs

• The work-related portion of your mobile phone.
• Tools and equipment like straps, tarps or ratchets you buy for work (claim in full if $300 or less).
• Parking and tolls while working, if not reimbursed.

What you can't claim

• Meals on day trips where you don't sleep away from home.
• Accommodation if you sleep in your truck.
• A standard car or truck licence renewal (it's private, even if your job requires it).
• Pre-employment medicals, or fines of any kind.
• Travel between home and your depot.
• Everyday clothing, sleeping bags or bedding, and personal items like toiletries.

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.
• Keep your national work diary or logbook showing trips, rest breaks and where you slept – it is the main evidence for meal claims.
• 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 driver.

Chris is an employed interstate truck driver who sleeps in his cab on 90 nights (example figure) in 2025–26 and receives a travel allowance for those trips, which is shown on his income statement. He spends at or below the reasonable amounts and his work diary shows each trip.

• Dinner: 90 × $61.30 = $5,517 (if spent);
• Breakfast: 90 × $31.15 = $2,803.50 (if spent);
• Showers: 90 × $5 = $450 (example figure, receipts kept).

Chris can only claim what he actually spent. If on some nights he bought dinner for $25, his claim for that meal is $25, not $61.30. The allowance he received is included as income.

Common mistakes to avoid

• Claiming meals without a travel allowance or receipts above reasonable amounts.
• Claiming a standard driver's licence.
• Not keeping a travel diary for long trips.

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: Truck drivers income and work related deductions
• ATO: 0 179d33c1 d549 467a be4f c03e5b9f8f33
• ATO: TD 2025/4 reasonable amounts (2025-26)
• ATO: 00001
• ATO myTax 2026: Work-related clothing, laundry and dry-cleaning
• 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.