Tax deductions for Australian Defence Force members
A lot of what you need in the Australian Defence Force (ADF) is issued, so there is nothing to claim. The deductions are in what you pay for yourself, and some of your pay may not be taxed at all, which changes what you can claim against it.
This page sets out what you can and cannot claim as an ADF member in the Army, Navy or Air Force, 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.
Aevum Accounting is a CPA practice and registered tax agent in Balcatta, Perth, working with ADF members across Australia.
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 the ADF paid for it, issued it to you 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
Compulsory uniform items you pay for, medal mounting, and the laundry and dry-cleaning of your uniform.
Protective gear you buy on top of your issue.
Cleaning and maintaining equipment the ADF issues you.
The work-related part of compulsory mess subscriptions, and costs of extra regimental duties such as stationery.
Union and professional association fees, and professional publications specific to your duties.
Sunglasses, a hat and sunscreen you buy, if you work in the sun for extended periods.
Gym costs, but only in a role that needs fitness well above the general ADF standard.
Self-education, seminars and courses linked to your current duties.
Driving to another base on duty, or from home to a training course.
Overtime meals, but only with an overtime meal allowance under an award or agreement.
Not deductible, however it feels
Gym fees to meet the general ADF standard, even though you must pass fitness tests.
PT gear such as shorts, t-shirts and sports shoes, even with your unit's logo on it.
Mess functions and balls, even compulsory ones, and the travel to get there.
Food, drink and entertainment in your mess subscriptions.
Haircuts, even when short hair is a condition of your employment.
Everyday clothes, even when your duties require them.
The drive between home and your base, even if you are on call.
Moving costs for a posting or transfer.
Costs of earning pay that is not taxed, such as part-time Reserve pay.
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 written evidence for every dollar you claim, not just the part above $1,000.
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.
For ADF members, much of your kit is issued, so your work expenses may sit well under $1,000. Keep your receipts until you know which side of the line you are on.
Every allowance on your income statement goes in your return as income, but an allowance does not give you a deduction by itself. Some, such as the protective clothing, tool, overtime meal and motor vehicle allowances, help with costs you may be able to claim. For others, such as the field, diving, locality, duty at sea and separation allowances, the ATO says you include them as income but cannot claim a deduction.
If the ADF reimburses the exact amount you spent, you do not declare it and cannot claim the expense.
Some pay is not taxed at all, such as pay for certified eligible duty overseas and part-time Reserve pay. The catch is that the tax law does not allow a deduction for expenses incurred in earning exempt income. The ATO says your employer will advise you if an amount is exempt.
Reservists. Pay and allowances for part-time service in the Navy, Army or Air Force Reserve are on the ATO's list of amounts you do not pay tax on, so the expenses of earning that pay are not deductible. The ATO says its ADF guide may also apply to reservists who pay tax on their salary and allowances as a reserve member.
The ATO's ADF guide describes two ways overseas service can be exempt from tax.
Eligible duty. If the Chief of the Defence Force has certified that you are on eligible duty with a specified organisation in a specified area outside Australia, your pay and allowances for that duty are exempt. Your income statement shows the exemption and the number of days, and you do not include that income in your return.
Non-warlike deployments. If you are an Australian resident and your deployment gives you continuous foreign service of 91 days or more, your pay can be exempt foreign employment income, unless one of the ATO's exclusions applies, such as the other country not taxing it because of a tax treaty. You still include it in your return, where it is not taxed but is counted when working out the tax on your other income. Longer absences, such as long service leave, can break the 91 days. The ATO also says that for periods from 1 July 2026, time back in Australia for duties or training directly related to your foreign service no longer counts towards it.
Either way, expenses you incur in earning exempt pay are not deductible.
Tax offsets. The overseas forces tax offset can apply when you serve in a specified overseas locality and your pay for that service is not exempt. The full offset needs 183 days or more of service in the income year, and a part offset may be available for less. The zone tax offset is for people whose usual place of residence has been in a remote or isolated area of Australia for 183 days or more in the year, or fewer in some cases. You can only claim one of the two.
Military service uniforms are compulsory uniforms. You can claim what you pay to buy, hire, repair or replace items such as service shirts and hats with rank, matching trousers, regulation jumpers and jackets, your official mess uniform, service dress shoes, and camouflage shirts and trousers. Conventional items such as underwear, ordinary fashion shoes and t-shirts are not included. Medal mounting can be claimed.
Everyday clothing is private, even when you must wear it for security reasons.
PT gear is conventional clothing. Tracksuits, shorts and sports shoes cannot be claimed, and your unit's logo on them does not make them a uniform. PT clothing that is part of a compulsory uniform with an official monogram, such as a regimental crest, and easily identifies you as an ADF member may be claimable.
Protective clothing the ADF provides is not yours to claim, but extra items you buy are, such as a Navy diver's additional wetsuit.
Laundry of 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. Dry cleaning and repairs are claimed at actual cost.
Prescription glasses are private. Protective glasses, including sunglasses, are claimable for their work use where you wear them to reduce a real and likely risk of illness or injury at work. In the ATO's example, an Air Force member who pilots aircraft claims the full $260 for sunglasses she uses only at work. Hats and sunscreen you buy are claimable too if you must work in the sun for extended periods.
Haircuts and grooming are private, even when short hair is a condition of your employment.
The ATO recognises that ADF members must keep a high standard of general fitness, and treats the cost of meeting it, such as gym memberships and fitness courses, as private, even though you must pass fitness tests.
The exception is narrow. If your job requires fitness well above the general ADF standard, and strenuous physical activity is an essential and regular part of your duties, you may be able to claim gym fees, fitness courses and the decline in value of gym equipment. The ATO says this may include physical training instructors and those in special combat squads. In its example, an SAS member claims his gym fees and the decline in value of his home gym equipment.
Conventional clothing you wear to keep fit is never deductible.
You can claim the part of your compulsory mess subscriptions that relates to work activities, and your mess accounts show what you paid. The part for food, drink or entertainment is private.
Mess functions are not deductible, compulsory or not, even though behaviour at them may count towards promotion, and neither is the travel to and from them. In the ATO's example, a Navy commander expected to attend the officers' ball cannot claim the $200 he pays for tickets.
Extra regimental duties, such as coaching a team or sitting on the Mess Committee, can bring deductible costs if the duty is part of your income-earning activities and the cost is not private. In the ATO's example, the Mess Committee President claims stationery for the role, but not her food and drink at functions.
Food and drink during your normal working day is not deductible, even if you receive a meal allowance. Overtime meals are deductible only if 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. The ATO's reasonable amount is $38.65 for 2025-26 and $40 for 2026-27. For the 2025-26 return, if you spend no more than that, you do not need receipts.
You cannot claim the trip between home and your base. That is private travel, even if you live a long way away, work early or weekend shifts, have to carry an item you cannot legally carry on public transport, or are on call.
You can claim driving to and from an alternative workplace while you are on duty, from home directly to an alternative workplace, such as a training centre, and between separate jobs on the same day, as long as neither is your home. In the ATO's example, a member who drives from her base to another base for her annual medical and fitness assessment, and then straight home, claims each journey.
Carrying bulky equipment is a narrow exception. It must be essential and bulky enough that a vehicle is the only convenient way to move it, there must be no secure storage at work, and you cannot carry it by choice. In the ATO's example, a member required to take his field equipment pack home to prepare for a deployment claims the 30 kilometres there and back.
Parking, tolls, taxis and public transport are claimable on trips in the course of your duties, such as between bases, unless the ADF pays or reimburses them. Parking at or near your regular workplace, and tolls between home and work, are private.
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.
If your car is salary packaged under a novated lease, you cannot claim its running costs, because it is usually your employer that leases the car and makes it available to you. You can still claim work-related parking and tolls you pay yourself.
Overnight travel is deductible when your work requires you to sleep away from home, unless the ADF provides or reimburses your accommodation and meals. A travel allowance that is not on your income statement, is within the ATO's reasonable amount and is fully spent on that travel is not declared, and the costs are not claimed.
Moving for a posting is private, whether the move is a condition of your job or you ask for it, and a relocation allowance is income. A workplace you are assigned to for three months or more will usually become your regular place of work.
Self-education is deductible if it directly relates to your ADF work and maintains or improves the skills you need for your current duties, or is likely to increase your income from your current employment. It is not deductible if it only relates to your job in a general way or helps you get a different job. In the ATO's examples, an Army truck driver claims a heavy vehicle defensive driving course, but a member studying business administration because he is thinking of leaving to go into business cannot. Commonwealth supported student contributions are not deductible, even paid upfront, and study loan repayments never are.
If you pay to maintain and clean equipment the ADF issues, such as your rifle, you can claim it. Tools and equipment you buy for your duties are claimable for their work use, outright if they cost $300 or less and meet the ATO's conditions, otherwise over their effective life. In the ATO's example, an Air Force lawyer claims the full $275 for a laptop bag he uses only for work.
Phone, data and internet costs are deductible for the work-related use of your own phone or devices, with your bills and a record of your work use. For the 2025-26 return, if your work use is incidental and your claim is $50 or less, you do not need to keep records, but you do need to be able to show how you worked out the claim.
Working from home counts only when it adds to your running costs, so working in a room your family is already using may add nothing. The fixed rate method is 70 cents per work hour for 2024-25 and 2025-26, with a record of your actual hours. You generally cannot claim rent, mortgage interest, rates or house insurance.
For the 2025-26 return you are lodging now: receipts for everything you claim, kilometre records or a logbook for car claims, a record of your hours if you work from home, your mess accounts for compulsory subscriptions, and your income statement and payslips, which show your allowances. Two shortcuts still apply this year. If your total work-related expenses, other than car, travel and overtime meal allowance claims, are $300 or less, you can claim them without receipts. If your laundry claim is $150 or less, you do not need written evidence of it. In both cases you still have to be able to show 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 for every work-related expense you 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 gym membership?
Not if you are keeping to the general ADF fitness standard, even though you have to pass fitness tests. You may be able to claim if your role needs fitness well above that standard and strenuous physical activity is an essential and regular part of your duties.
Can I claim my mess fees?
The part of your compulsory mess subscriptions that relates to work activities, yes, and your mess accounts show what you paid. The food, drink and entertainment part is private. So are mess functions, even compulsory ones, and the travel to get there.
Is my Reserve pay taxed?
Pay and allowances for part-time service in the Navy, Army or Air Force Reserve are on the ATO's list of amounts you do not pay tax on, so the expenses of earning them are not deductible. If you pay tax on your Reserve pay, the ATO's ADF guide may apply to you.
Is my pay tax-free when I deploy?
It depends on the deployment. Pay for eligible duty certified by the Chief of the Defence Force is exempt. A non-warlike deployment of 91 days or more of continuous foreign service can make your pay exempt foreign employment income, which still goes in your return. Either way, expenses of earning exempt pay are not deductible.
How does the $1,000 standard deduction work for ADF members?
From the 2026-27 return, you get up to $1,000 automatically, with no receipts needed. Any work expenses you claim reduce it, 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. Union and professional association fees go on top either way.
Do you work with ADF members 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 ADF members, 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. Your Tax Return, Your Way: Email or Appointment (episode 51) helps you choose how to lodge with us, and its companion is Email or Appointment.
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 police, firefighters and paramedics.