Tax deductions for farm and agricultural workers
On a farm, a lot of the tax rules come down to what your gear is made for. Jeans and a t-shirt are private, even if you only wear them at work, but a shearer's lanolin-repelling jeans or a UPF 50 sun protection work shirt can be claimed, because they are made to protect you.
This page sets out what you can and cannot claim as a farm hand, fruit picker, shearer, fencer, ringer or other agricultural employee in Australia, 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 run your own farm, or shear, pick or fence on your own ABN, a business consultation is the better place to start. Working holiday makers and Pacific Australia Labour Mobility (PALM) scheme workers are covered by separate ATO guidance, so talk to us first.
Aevum Accounting is a CPA practice and registered tax agent in Balcatta, Perth, working with farm and agricultural workers across Australia.
Approved by Ben De Rosa, CPA. Last checked against the ATO's guidance on 26 September 2026.
What farm and agricultural workers 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
Steel-capped boots, UPF 50 sun shirts, gloves and other protective gear you buy.
Washing and repairing claimable work clothing, and washing a uniform your employer supplies.
A broad-brimmed hat, sunscreen and sunglasses for long hours in the sun.
Tools and equipment for work, and repairing, insuring or hiring them.
Food and vet bills for a working dog or horse you must provide.
Firearms, ammunition and gun licence renewals for duties such as vermin control.
Renewing a heavy vehicle permit you need to keep doing your job.
Driving between farms or jobs on the same day.
A quad bike you need to reach places a car cannot, such as livestock in a paddock, for its work use.
A tent and equipment for musters, and your costs when work keeps you away overnight.
Overtime meals, but only with an overtime meal allowance under an award or agreement.
The work share of your phone and internet.
Study and training for your current job, and union fees.
Not deductible, however it feels
Jeans, t-shirts and other everyday clothes, even if your employer requires them or they give some protection.
Clothing and gear your employer supplies or pays you back for.
Your drivers licence, even if the job requires it.
Your first heavy vehicle permit or firearm licence, if you need it to get the job.
The drive between home and your regular workplace, even for early starts.
A pesticide handling or remote area allowance. It is income, with nothing to claim against it.
Food and drink during your normal working hours, even with a meal allowance.
A dog or horse you treat as a pet, or one your employer provides.
Prescription glasses and contact lenses, other than prescription sunglasses.
Fines, including a fine for overloading a truck.
Music streaming, audiobooks and podcasts, even if they keep you going at work.
Study that is not relevant to your current job.
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 farm workers, it depends on what your employer supplies. If your gear is provided and you mostly claim sunscreen, a hat and some laundry, your work expenses may sit well under $1,000. Your own boots and tools, a working dog or firearm costs can take you past it. Keep your receipts until you know which side of the line you are on.
Every allowance on your income statement goes in your tax return as income, but it does not give you a deduction by itself. In the ATO's example, Mario, a farm hand, declares the $1.35 an hour he is paid for using pesticides, but cannot claim against it, because it compensates him for a dangerous part of his work. A remote area allowance works the same way.
An allowance for expenses, such as tools or laundry, can come with a deduction, but only for deductible costs you actually have. In another example, Bronwyn, a farm manager, drives farm workers around the farm in her own car. She declares her $4,004.25 car allowance, paid at 95 cents a kilometre, then claims $3,709.20 for her 4,215 kilometres at the 2025-26 cents per kilometre rate of 88 cents.
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. If your employer pays you back the exact amount you spent, that is a reimbursement. You do not declare it and you cannot claim the expense.
Everyday clothing is private, even if your employer requires it and you only wear it at work. In the ATO's example, Bob, who works on a poultry farm, cannot claim the jeans and t-shirts he wears for comfort, because they are not designed to protect him at work. He can claim the UPF 50 sun protection work shirts he later buys, because they are.
You can claim buying, hiring, repairing or replacing four kinds of clothing: protective clothing, such as steel-capped boots, fire-resistant clothing or tear-proof pants; occupation-specific clothing; a compulsory uniform your employer strictly and consistently enforces; and a non-compulsory uniform your employer has registered on the Register of Approved Occupational Clothing. Clothing your employer buys, repairs or replaces is not claimable. In the ATO's example, Len, an employee shearer, claims jeans that repel lanolin, singlets with leather inserts, boots with special lacing and flaps to keep out wool clippings, and moccasins that stop him slipping on greasy shearing shed floors.
Sunglasses, sunhats and sunscreen are claimable for their work use if you must work outdoors in the sun for long periods and use them to protect you from a real and likely risk of illness or injury. In the ATO's example, Hal, a fruit picker, claims the broad-brimmed hat and SPF 50 sunscreen he only uses at work, but only his work use of the sunglasses he also wears on weekends. Prescription glasses and contact lenses are private, but protective glasses, including prescription sunglasses that cut the sun's glare, are claimable for their work use. So are safety glasses, helmets, breathing masks and, for a cattle farmer, gloves, along with repairing, replacing or cleaning them, unless your employer supplies them or pays you back.
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. Dry cleaning and repairs are claimed at actual cost. In the ATO's example, Sali, who works in dairy production, washes the uniform his employer supplies separately twice a week for 48 weeks, and claims $96.
Tools and equipment you use for work are claimable 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, Luke, a fencer, buys a set of 16 spanners one at a time at $22 each, $352 in all, so he claims their decline in value. Repairs, insurance and hire of work tools and equipment are deductible too.
Where there is a direct connection to your duties, such as vermin control, you can claim the decline in value of firearms, their maintenance, ammunition and gun licence renewals, unless your employer pays or pays you back. In the ATO's example, Trent controls wild dogs on his uncle's farm with his own firearms. His uncle, who employs him, pays for the ammunition, so Trent cannot claim it. As he also shoots for recreation, he claims only the work share of his licence renewal and of the decline in value of his guns and $600 scope, and no decline in value for guns he has had longer than their effective life.
A working dog or horse can be claimed only if you use it in your work duties, your employment requires you to provide your own, and you train it for the role from a young age and do not treat it as a pet. Then you can claim food, vet bills and items such as the decline in value of a horse saddle. The purchase price is a capital cost, so you claim the animal's decline in value instead. If your employer provides the animal or pays its costs, there is nothing to claim.
You cannot claim the cost of getting your first licence, permit, card or certificate to get a job, such as a heavy vehicle permit or firearm licence, but you can claim renewing one you need to keep doing your work. You can also claim the extra cost of getting a special licence, or a condition on your licence, that your work duties need, such as a heavy vehicle permit. Your drivers licence is private, even the renewal, and even if the job requires it.
The ATO's examples show where the line sits. Luke, an employee on a cattle farm who transports cattle to the sales each week, cannot claim first getting his heavy vehicle permit, because he needed it to get the job, but he can claim maintaining it. Mick, a fruit picker who drives a truck to transport the fruit, can claim the $75 to apply for his permit, as an extra cost directly related to his duties, but not the $50 to renew his drivers licence. If you are not sure which side of the line your permit falls, talk to us before you claim it.
A first aid course is deductible if you are a designated first aid person who needs the training for emergencies at work, unless your employer pays for it or pays you back.
The trip between home and your regular workplace is private, even if you live a long way away or work early morning or weekend shifts.
You can claim driving directly between two separate jobs on the same day, as long as neither is your home. You can also claim driving between workplaces for the same employer on the same day, such as between cane fields, and from home straight to an alternative workplace.
The trip from home counts too if you carry tools that are essential to your duties and so bulky you can only move them conveniently by motor vehicle, there is no secure storage for them at work, and you are not carrying them by choice. In the ATO's example, Mike, a fencer, carries a powered post driver and other tools to his employer's 7 properties. Storing them at the main farm is not practical, so he can claim the trips from home to the first farm, between farms, and from the last farm home.
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.
Those methods only work for cars. For a motorcycle, or a vehicle designed to carry 1 tonne or more, which the ATO says includes some utes, or 9 or more passengers including the driver, you claim your actual costs, with receipts and a record of your work use. A quad bike you need to cover large distances you cannot get to by car, such as to check livestock in a paddock, is claimable for its work use: its running costs and, if you paid for it, its decline in value.
Fines are never deductible, including a fine for overloading your truck.
You can claim accommodation, meals and incidentals when your work requires you to travel and sleep away from home overnight, for example carting cattle long distances between farms. You cannot claim a room or meals your employer provides, costs you are paid back for, or a night near work you chose instead of going home. In the ATO's example, Dani, a ringer on a goat farm in outback Australia, sleeps in a tent on musters of 5 to 7 days, because there is no accommodation in those remote areas. She can claim the tent and equipment, over their effective life for any item costing more than $300.
If you receive a travel allowance and your claim is within the ATO's reasonable amount, you do not need receipts, except for overseas accommodation, but you must still be able to show you spent the money. From 2026-27, travel allowance expenses you claim count against the $1,000 standard deduction, and the reasonable amount exception still applies. Moving to a new work location is private.
Food and drink during your normal working hours is private, even with a meal allowance. 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, Ash, a tomato farmer, gets a $35.65 overtime meal allowance on 10 occasions during harvest, spends $18 on each meal and claims $180.
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.
Phone, data and internet costs are deductible for the work-related use of your own phone or devices, but not a phone your employer provides and pays for, or calls to family and friends. Keep your bills and a record of how you worked out your work use.
Self-education is deductible if it directly relates to your current job and maintains or improves the skills you need for it, or is likely to increase your income from it. In the ATO's examples, Dan, who works in livestock production, can claim a Diploma of Agriculture, because it is likely to increase his income from his current employer. Kaitlin, a shearer, cannot claim an irrigation management course, because it is not relevant to her job. Study loan repayments and HECS-HELP fees are not deductible.
Seminars, conferences and training courses that relate to your work are deductible, and so is a publication specific to your job, like the $39 Australasian Poultry subscription that Ian, a poultry farm manager, claims in the ATO's example. Other newspapers and magazines are private, and so are music streaming, audiobooks and podcasts. 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, kilometre records or a logbook for car claims, and a record of how you worked out your phone and internet work use. 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 boots, work clothes and sunscreen?
Protective clothing you buy yourself, yes, such as steel-capped boots or UPF 50 sun protection work shirts, and washing it too. Jeans, t-shirts and other everyday clothes are private, even if you only wear them at work. A hat, sunscreen and sunglasses are claimable for their work use if you must work outdoors in the sun for long periods.
Can I claim my working dog or horse?
Only if you use it in your work duties, your employment requires you to provide your own, and you trained it for the role from a young age and do not treat it as a pet. Then you can claim food, vet bills and its decline in value, but not its purchase price.
Can I claim my heavy vehicle permit?
Not the first one, if you need it to get the job, but you can claim renewing it. You can also claim the extra cost of getting one your work duties need. In the ATO's example, a fruit picker who drives a truck to transport the fruit claims the $75 to apply for his permit. If you are not sure which applies to you, talk to us before you claim it.
Can I claim the drive to the farm?
Usually not. Home to your regular workplace is private, even if you live a long way out or start early. You can claim driving between separate jobs, or between your employer's workplaces, on the same day, and the trip from home if you must carry bulky, essential tools and there is no secure storage for them at work.
How does the $1,000 standard deduction work for farm workers?
From the 2026-27 return, you get up to $1,000 automatically, with no receipts needed. Any work expenses you claim reduce it, including travel allowance 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 farm workers 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 farm workers, 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 FIFO and mining workers, truck drivers and tradies.