Tax deductions for call centre operators
For call centre operators, a lot of the tax rules come down to where you sit. Work from home and you can claim the extra running costs, if you keep the right records. Work in the office and the drive there is private, even when you are called in to cover a shift.
This page sets out what you can and cannot claim as a call centre operator, team leader or manager in Australia, whether you work in the office, from home or both, checked against the ATO's own occupation guide. Where a rule has a catch in it, we have said so rather than left it out. It is written for employees. If you work as a contractor or freelancer on your own ABN, or run your own business, start with a business consultation instead.
Aevum Accounting is a CPA practice and registered tax agent in Balcatta, Perth, working with call centre operators across Australia.
Approved by Ben De Rosa, CPA. Last checked against the ATO's guidance on 26 September 2026.
What call centre operators can claim
Before any specific deduction, an expense has to clear all three of these. The ATO calls them the three golden rules.
1. You spent the money yourself and were not reimbursed. If your employer paid for it or paid you back, it is not your deduction.
2. The expense directly relates to earning your income. Not helpful to your career in general. Directly related to the job you are doing now.
3. You have a record to prove it. Usually a receipt.
If an expense was part work and part private, you can only claim the work-related portion. And you cannot claim at all if you have no records, or if someone else paid.
The short version, before the detail. These are the claims worth checking every year.
Usually deductible
A headset you have to buy yourself, and repairs to it.
Working from home running costs, with a record of your hours.
A desk, chair or computer you buy for work, for the work share.
Your own phone and internet, for the work share, unless you use the fixed rate.
A compulsory uniform with your employer's logo, if you buy it yourself.
Washing a compulsory uniform, even one your employer supplies.
Hearing tests your employer requires in your current job.
Anti-glare and other protective glasses, for their work use.
Driving between workplaces or jobs on the same day, or from home to another office.
Parking and tolls on work trips, such as at a training facility.
Meals you pay for when work sends you away overnight.
Overtime meals, but only with an overtime meal allowance under an award or agreement.
Training for your current job, and union fees.
Not deductible, however it feels
The drive between home and your regular office, even when you are called in to cover a shift.
Parking at or near your regular workplace.
Business clothes, black pants and shoes, even when your employer requires them.
Coffee, tea, milk and other household items while you work from home.
Fixed rate claims for hours you estimated rather than recorded.
Rent, mortgage interest and rates if your employer provides a place to work.
A computer, headset or phone your employer provides.
Food and drink on a normal shift, even with a meal allowance.
A hearing test you need to get the job.
Prescription glasses, contact lenses, grooming and massage.
Child care and your children's school costs.
Calls and texts about picking up shifts, if you are a casual.
Study for a different career, such as a business degree.
Each of these is explained properly below.
From the 2026-27 income year, if you are an Australian resident earning a salary or wage, you get a standard deduction of up to $1,000 for work-related expenses. The ATO applies it automatically and you do not need receipts for it. It became law in June 2026 and starts with the 2026-27 return, which you lodge from July 2027. It does not apply to the 2025-26 return you are lodging now.
It is not a bonus on top of your normal claims. Any work-related expenses you claim reduce it dollar for dollar. Claim $600 of expenses and your standard deduction drops to $400, so you land on $1,000 either way, with more paperwork. If your work expenses are more than $1,000, you claim them the way you do now, and you need records for every dollar you claim, not just the part above $1,000. For most expenses, that means written evidence such as receipts.
Union fees and professional association memberships sit outside it. You can claim those on top of the full $1,000, as long as you keep the records. The same goes for deductions that are not work expenses, such as donations to charity, income protection premiums and your tax agent's fee.
For call centre operators, it depends on where you work. In the office, with your headset and computer supplied, your work expenses may sit well under $1,000. The ATO counts working from home expenses against it, so working from home most of the week can take you past it. Keep your receipts until you know which side of the line you are on.
You can claim the extra running costs of working from home, but only if you work there to do your job, not just carry out minimal tasks such as occasionally checking emails or taking calls. Items your employer provides, such as a laptop or phone, and costs it pays you back for are not claimable. Nor are coffee, tea, milk and other household items, child care, or your children's school costs.
The fixed rate method is 70 cents per work hour for 2024-25 and 2025-26. It covers electricity and gas, phone and internet use, and stationery and computer consumables, so you cannot claim those separately. You need a record of the actual hours you work from home for the whole year, such as a timesheet, roster or diary, and at least one bill or receipt for each of those costs you pay. Estimates are not accepted. In the ATO's example, Wanda, who works from home one day a week, only starts recording her hours on 1 March 2026, so she can only claim the 136 hours she records from then, $95.
The actual cost method uses what you really spend, with bills and receipts, and a record of your hours for the whole year or for a continuous 4-week period that shows your usual pattern. With either method, a desk, chair or computer you buy is claimed separately.
As an employee you generally cannot claim rent, mortgage interest, rates or house insurance. The ATO's current guidance allows them only if your work needs a place of business, you have to work from home because your employer does not provide one, and the area you use is used only, or almost only, for work and is not readily usable for anything else. If your employer provides a place to work and you choose to work from home, you cannot claim them.
In the ATO's call centre example, Rosemary works solely from home because her employer provides no work location, in a separate home office she only uses for work. She can claim her electricity, internet and the decline in value of her office furniture, and the occupancy costs of her home office too. If you own your home, being eligible can also have capital gains tax consequences, so talk to us before you claim them.
You can claim tools and equipment you use to do your job, such as a headset, for their work-related use, but not ones your employer or someone else supplies. An item costing $300 or less can be claimed in the year you buy it, if you use it mainly for work and it is not part of a set, or one of several identical or substantially identical items, costing more than $300 together. Above that, you claim its decline in value over its effective life.
In the ATO's example, Louise has to buy her own $250 headset and her employer does not pay her back, so she claims it in full. Repairs and insurance for your work equipment are deductible for the work share.
Phone, data and internet costs are deductible for the work-related use of your own phone or devices. Keep your bills and a record of how you worked out your work use. If you claim working from home at the fixed rate, it already includes your phone, data and internet use, even your work calls on office days. To claim them separately, you would need to use the actual cost method instead. In the ATO's example, George, who manages a team of call centre operators, finds from an itemised bill that 45 of his 300 calls, or 15%, were for work. On a $49 a month plan over the 10.6 months he works, he claims $77.91.
A phone your employer provides and pays for is not claimable, and calls to family and friends are private. If you are a casual, you cannot claim calls or texts about whether there is work for you.
Everyday clothing, such as business attire, is private, even if your employer requires it and you only wear it at work. The ATO says call centre operators are unlikely to have protective or occupation-specific clothing, so a claim will usually be for a compulsory uniform, one your employer strictly and consistently enforces and that distinctly identifies you as working for them, or a non-compulsory uniform registered on the Register of Approved Occupational Clothing.
In the ATO's example, Rick, in a call centre for an online shopping provider, can claim the logo polo shirts he must buy, but not the black pants and enclosed black shoes he must wear with them.
Washing claimable clothing can be worked out at $1 a load for work clothing only, or 50 cents a load if you mix in personal items, and that includes a uniform your employer supplies. Dry-cleaning and repairs are claimed at actual cost. In the ATO's example, Sally washes the compulsory uniforms her employer provides as a separate load twice a week for 48 weeks, and claims $96.
Haircuts, cosmetics and skin care are private, even with a grooming allowance, and so are prescription glasses, contact lenses and massage. Protective glasses, such as anti-glare glasses, are claimable for their work use if you wear them to reduce a real and likely risk of illness or injury at work. The ATO's guide does not mention blue light glasses, so talk to us before you claim them.
An assessment your employer requires in your current job, such as an annual hearing test, is deductible, but not one you need to get the job. In the ATO's example, Luke cannot claim the $185 hearing test and audiology report he needs before he can start.
Every allowance on your income statement goes in your tax return as income, but an allowance does not give you a deduction by itself. One that compensates you for an aspect of the job, such as a shift or higher duties allowance, is income with nothing to claim against it. One for certain expenses, such as overtime meals or laundry, or for special skills, such as a first aid certificate, can come with a deduction, but only for deductible expenses you actually have.
An allowance that shows only on your payslips, such as an overtime meal or travel allowance, does not need declaring if you spend all of it on deductible expenses and do not claim them. The allowance must also be within the ATO's reasonable amount.
Food, drink and snacks during your normal working hours are private, even if you receive a meal allowance. In the ATO's example, Kieran declares the $4.24 allowance he gets for working more than 5 hours without a meal break, but cannot claim the $12.80 meal he then buys, because he eats it during ordinary working hours.
Overtime meals are deductible only if you buy and eat the meal while working overtime, you receive a separate overtime meal allowance under an industrial law, award or agreement, not one folded into your salary and wages, and you declare it as income, even if it shows only on your payslips. In the ATO's example, Anna works 3 extra hours, gets a $20 allowance under her enterprise bargaining agreement, and claims the $21 meal she eats on her overtime break.
The reasonable amount is $38.65 for 2025-26 and $40 for 2026-27. If your claim is no more than that, you do not need receipts, but you must still be able to show what you spent and how you worked it out.
The trip between home and your regular workplace is private, even if you live a long way away, work early morning or weekend shifts, or do some of your work at home. In the ATO's example, Michelle is regularly called in when someone is unavailable, and her trips from home to the office are still private.
You can claim driving directly between two separate jobs on the same day, as long as neither is your home, between workplaces for the same employer on the same day, and from home straight to an alternative workplace, such as another of your employer's offices for a meeting. In the ATO's example, Josie, who manages a team of call centre operators working from home, cannot claim the drive from home to head office, but can claim driving on from there to visit her team, and keeps a logbook.
Cents per kilometre. 88 cents per kilometre for 2024-25 and 2025-26, and 91 cents for 2026-27, capped at 5,000 work kilometres per car per year. You still need a record of how you worked out the kilometres. The alternative is a 12-week logbook and your actual costs.
Parking at or near your regular workplace, and tolls between home and work, are private. In the ATO's example, Elias cannot claim parking next to his call centre, but can claim parking at a training facility he drives to for mandatory training. A taxi or ride-share to another work location, when no fleet car is available, is deductible unless your employer pays you back.
Overnight travel is deductible when your work requires you to sleep away from home, but not a room, flights or meals your employer provides or pays for. In the ATO's example, Latisha works from home in regional Queensland and travels to Brisbane each month for team meetings. Her employer pays her flights and accommodation and a travel allowance for meals. She declares the allowance and claims what she actually spends on meals, not the reasonable amount. Because each meal costs less than that, she does not need receipts.
From 2026-27, travel allowance expenses you claim count against the $1,000 standard deduction, and the reasonable amount exception still applies.
Self-education is deductible if it directly relates to your current job and either maintains or improves the skills and knowledge you need for your current duties, or is likely to increase your income from that job. Study that only relates to your job in a general way, or helps you get a different job, is not. In the ATO's example, Ben, who works part-time in a call centre while he studies a Bachelor of Business, cannot claim his study costs, because the course is for work in a different field. Study loan repayments are never deductible, and neither are fees under HECS-HELP.
Seminars, conferences and training courses that relate to your work are deductible, unless your employer pays. In the ATO's example, Beth claims a $100 course on the new record-keeping software her employer has brought in, because it improves the skills she needs in her current job. If you go mainly for a holiday, you can only claim direct costs such as registration.
Union and professional association fees are deductible, and if they are on your income statement, that is your evidence.
For the 2025-26 return you are lodging now: receipts for everything you claim, your income statement and payslips, which show your allowances, a record of your hours and your bills if you work from home, a record of how you worked out your phone and internet work use, and kilometre records or a logbook for car claims. Two shortcuts still apply this year. If your total work-related expenses, other than car, travel allowance and overtime meal allowance claims, are $300 or less, you can claim them without receipts. If your laundry claim, not counting dry cleaning, is $150 or less, you do not need written evidence of it. In both cases you still have to be able to show that you spent the money and how you worked out the figure.
From 2026-27, those shortcuts end for everyone. If you claim more than the standard deduction, you need written evidence, such as receipts, for your work-related expenses. Some exceptions continue, including travel allowance and overtime meal allowance claims within the ATO's reasonable amounts, and car claims at cents per kilometre. For those, you still need records that show how you worked out the claim. For laundry worked out at the ATO's per-load rates, its current guidance is to keep a record of how many loads you washed, whether each was a work-only or mixed load, and evidence that you paid for the laundry.
The ATO's myDeductions tool in their app is a reasonable way to keep records through the year. We cannot access it directly, but you can export from it and send it to us. A shared Drive, OneDrive or Dropbox folder works just as well.
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Can I claim my headset?
Yes, if you have to buy it yourself and your employer does not pay you back. In the ATO's example, a call centre operator claims the full $250 for a headset she must buy, because she uses it mainly for work and it is not part of a set costing more than $300. A headset your employer supplies is not claimable.
I work from home. What can I claim?
The extra running costs, if you work there to do your job and not just minimal tasks, at the fixed rate or your actual costs. The fixed rate is 70 cents per work hour for 2024-25 and 2025-26. If you use it, you need a record of your actual hours kept as you work them, and you cannot also claim your phone, internet or electricity. A desk, chair or computer you buy is claimed separately.
Can I claim rent or mortgage interest if I work from home?
Usually not. The ATO allows them only if your work needs a place of business, your employer does not provide one, and the area you use at home is used only, or almost only, for work and is not readily usable for anything else. If your employer provides a place to work, you cannot claim them. Talk to us first, because if you own your home, being eligible can also have capital gains tax consequences.
Can I claim the drive to the office on the days I go in?
No. The trip between home and your regular workplace is private, even if you work from home on other days or are called in to cover a shift. Driving from home straight to another of your employer's offices for a meeting, between workplaces on the same day, or between two jobs can be claimed.
Can I claim a hearing test?
Yes, if your employer requires it in your current job, such as an annual hearing test, and you pay for it. A hearing test you need to pass to get the job is not deductible.
How does the $1,000 standard deduction work for call centre operators?
From the 2026-27 return, you get up to $1,000 automatically, with no receipts needed. Any work expenses you claim reduce it, including working from home expenses, so it helps most when your work expenses are under $1,000. If they are over, claim them as normal and keep records for every dollar. Your union fees go on top either way.
Do you work with call centre operators outside Perth?
Yes. We are based in Balcatta and we work with clients across Australia, by email or online appointment. See our pricing page for how the two options differ, or book an appointment.
There is no episode of the Aevum Accounting Podcast just for call centre operators yet, but two are relevant to you. The Thousand Dollar Deduction (episode 54) explains the new standard deduction, and its written companion is The $1,000 Instant Tax Deduction: What It's Actually Worth. The ATO's 2026 Hit List (episode 52) covers what the ATO is focusing on this year, including working from home claims, and you can read the written version.
We are a CPA practice and registered tax agent, TPB registration 26302591. You can check our credentials, meet the team, or book an appointment.
Also worth reading: tax accountants Perth for how we work with individuals, and our guides for office workers, retail workers and sales and marketing staff.