Tax deductions for personal trainers, coaches and other fitness and sport employees
In fitness, a lot of the tax rules come down to where the job ends and your own training begins. Your gym fees, activewear and protein shakes can all feel like work costs, but the ATO treats all three as private. Washing a compulsory polo shirt with your employer's logo on it can be claimed.
This page sets out what you can and cannot claim as a personal trainer, fitness instructor, coach, sports massage therapist or other fitness and sporting industry 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 work as a contractor on your own ABN or run your own personal training business, it does not cover you, and a business consultation is the better place to start. The ATO has a separate guide for professional sportspeople, who make their living playing sport, and this page does not cover them. Our guide for professional sportspeople does.
Aevum Accounting is a CPA practice and registered tax agent in Balcatta, Perth, working with personal trainers, coaches and other fitness and sport employees across Australia.
Approved by Ben De Rosa, CPA. Last checked against the ATO's guidance on 26 September 2026.
What fitness and sport employees 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 compulsory uniform with your employer's logo, if you buy it yourself.
Washing a compulsory uniform, even one your employer supplies.
Sunglasses, sunhats and sunscreen, if you work in the sun for long periods.
Equipment you buy for work, such as exercise mats or a weights bench.
Music for the exercise classes you run, if you must provide your own.
Driving from home to clients, if you have no fixed workplace.
Driving from home straight to a competition venue, or between two jobs on the same day.
Parking and tolls on work trips, and a taxi from your gym to a training venue.
Meals you pay for when you travel overnight with a team.
Overtime meals, but only with an overtime meal allowance under an award or agreement.
Courses that improve your skills in the role you have now.
A first aid course, if you are the designated first aid person.
The work share of your phone and internet.
Union and professional association fees.
Not deductible, however it feels
Gym fees and weight management programs.
Activewear, tracksuits and sports shoes, even when your employer requires them.
Vitamins, minerals and sports supplements such as protein shakes.
Massage and other alternative therapies.
Haircuts, cosmetics and skin care, even with a grooming allowance.
Prescription glasses and contact lenses.
The drive between home and your regular gym, club or studio.
Food and drink on a normal shift, even with a meal allowance.
Meals on a trip where you come home the same day.
Social drinks nights and other functions, even if you are expected to go.
Music streaming you mostly use outside work.
A smart watch for checking messages at work.
Study for a different job, such as physiotherapy while you work as a sports massage therapist.
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 fitness and sport employees, it depends on what your employer supplies. If your uniform and equipment are provided, your own work expenses may sit well under $1,000. A course you pay for yourself can take you past it on its own, like the $2,100 of course fees and textbooks in the ATO's example below. Keep your receipts until you know which side of the line you are on.
Everyday clothing is private, even if your employer requires it and you only wear it at work. The ATO's own examples are sports gear such as active wear, tracksuits and sports shoes, and it says active wear is neither occupation-specific nor protective clothing.
You can claim what you pay to buy, hire, repair or replace 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. Protective and occupation-specific clothing count too, but not clothing your employer buys, repairs or replaces.
In the ATO's example, Mike, a gym instructor, cannot claim the logo t-shirts his employer provides at no cost. Nor can he claim the black shorts and sports shoes he must wear with them, because they are plain, everyday clothing. He can claim washing the t-shirts, because they carry the logo and are compulsory.
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, Lauren, a personal trainer with a professional netball team, washes the logo polo shirts her employer provides in mixed loads 3 times a week for the 30 weeks she works, and claims $45.
Health and fitness costs are private, and the ATO's fitness guide gives no exception for people who work in the industry. That covers gym fees and gym clothing, weight management programs, food substitutes, special diet foods, and vitamins, minerals and sports supplements such as protein shakes. The ATO's general guidance allows gym fees only in very limited cases, where your job requires an extremely high level of fitness and strenuous physical activity is an essential and regular part of your work, so talk to us before you claim them. Massage and other alternative therapies are private too. So are haircuts, cosmetics, and hair and skin care products, even with a grooming allowance, and prescription glasses and contact lenses.
Sun protection is the exception. Sunglasses, including prescription sunglasses, sunhats and sunscreen are claimable for their work use if you must work in the sun for extended periods and use them to protect yourself from a real and likely risk of illness or injury. In the ATO's example, Jermayne, a tennis coach at a club where all the courts are outdoors, can claim the sunglasses he wears while coaching, which he leaves in his work locker, so he never uses them privately. If you also wear yours privately, claim the work share only.
You can claim equipment you buy to do your job, such as exercise mats, for its work-related use, but not equipment 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. Repairs and hiring costs are deductible for the work share.
In the ATO's examples, Julian, a strength and conditioning coach with a professional football team, claims the full $150 for extra training equipment he only uses at work. Eliza, a sports conditioning coach, claims the decline in value of a $700 weights bench she keeps at work for her clients and never uses privately.
Music you listen to at work is private, even if it keeps you motivated. If you run an exercise class and have to provide your own music, you may be able to claim what you stream or buy for it, but not a streaming service you mainly use outside work.
Watches and smart watches are private, even if you need one for the job. A watch with special features you use for work is claimable, and a smart watch may be if its functions are essential to your work, but only for the work use. In the ATO's example, Dan, a personal trainer, cannot claim a smart watch he bought to check messages at work, because his employer provides the device he needs to record his clients' progress, and checking messages is not part of his duties.
The trip between home and your regular workplace is private, even if you live a long way away or work outside normal business hours.
You can claim it if you have shifting places of work, meaning no fixed workplace, and you continually travel from one work site to another before going home. You can also claim it if you must carry bulky equipment that is essential to your work and there is no secure storage for it at work. In the ATO's example, Bruno, a personal trainer, gets a list of clients to visit from his employer each day. He can claim driving from home to his first client, between clients, and home at the end of the day.
You can also claim driving directly between two jobs on the same day, as long as neither is your home, to another workplace for the same employer on the same day, and from home to an alternative workplace. In the ATO's example, Jennie, a dance studio manager, can claim driving from home straight to a competition she has to attend with one of the studio's dance groups, but not between home and the studio.
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. Parking and tolls on work trips are deductible. A taxi or ride-share from your gym to a training venue for work-related training is deductible too, unless your employer pays you back.
Every allowance on your income statement goes in your tax return as income, but an allowance does not give you a deduction by itself. In the ATO's example, Janelle, a fitness centre manager, declares her supervisor allowance but cannot claim against it, because it pays her for extra duties, not expenses.
In another, Bronwyn, a personal trainer, is paid 95 cents a kilometre to drive her own car from the gym to client sessions and skills training, and her income statement shows a $304 car allowance for 320 kilometres. She declares the $304, then claims her car expenses from her own trip records, using the cents per kilometre method, not the allowance amount.
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.
You can claim accommodation, meals and incidentals when your work requires you to travel and sleep away from home overnight, but not a room or meals your employer provides or pays you back for.
In the ATO's example, Rebecca, a fitness coach for a professional basketball team, travels to interstate games. When she stays overnight, her employer pays for her flights and room and gives her a travel allowance for meals, and she can claim the meals she buys. On same-day trips her meals are private, but she still declares her part-day travel allowance as income.
With a travel allowance, a claim within the ATO's reasonable amount needs no receipts, except for overseas accommodation, but you must still be able to show you spent the money. Claim more and you need written evidence for all of it, not just the extra. From 2026-27, travel allowance expenses you claim count against the $1,000 standard deduction, and the reasonable amount exception still applies.
Food, drink and snacks during your normal working hours are private, even if you receive 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, Carl, a gym instructor, gets a $12.50 award allowance on 30 overtime occasions, shown as $375 on his income statement, and generally spends $15 on his meal, so he claims $450.
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.
Social functions are private, even compulsory ones. In the ATO's example, Rachael cannot claim her drinks or food at a social drinks night her gym's owners organise, even though she is expected to go and network with members.
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. It is not deductible if it only relates to your job in a general way, or helps you get a new job or change jobs. Study loan repayments are never deductible, and neither are fees under HECS-HELP.
In the ATO's examples, Ariel, a personal fitness instructor in a gym, claims $2,100 in course fees and textbooks for training to run small group fitness sessions in her role. Geoff, a sports massage therapist, cannot claim a physiotherapy degree, because it only relates to his job in a general way and is designed to lead to new work.
Seminars, conferences and training courses that relate to your work are deductible, including fares, registration and, if you stay overnight, accommodation and meals, unless your employer pays for them.
A first aid course is deductible if you are a designated first aid person and need it to help in emergency situations at work, unless your employer pays for it or pays you back. If you need a first aid course for another reason, the fitness guide does not deal with that, so talk to us before you claim it.
The guide does not cover registration fees or working with children checks either. Under the ATO's general rules, one you need to start a job is generally not deductible, while one you need to keep the job you have generally is. Talk to us before you claim either.
Union and professional association fees are deductible, and your income statement can be your proof. So are professional publications whose content is specific to your duties, but newspapers and magazines are generally private.
Phone, data and internet costs are deductible for the work-related use of your own phone or devices. In the ATO's example, Ralph, a personal trainer on a $49 a month plan, finds from his itemised bill that 120 of his 300 calls over a 4-week period, or 40%, are for work, and claims $207.76 for the 10.6 months he works. Sasha, a personal trainer, keeps a diary showing 40% of her home internet use is for work, such as client exercise plans and progress notes, so she claims $480 of her $1,200 yearly bill. If anyone else used the connection, she would have to reduce her claim.
Keep your bills and a record of how you worked out your work use. A phone your employer provides and pays for is not claimable, and calls to family and friends are private.
Working from home counts only for the extra running costs it causes. The fixed rate method is 70 cents per work hour for 2024-25 and 2025-26, with a record of your actual hours, and it covers your phone and internet, so you cannot also claim those separately.
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, a record of how you worked out your phone and internet work use, and a record of your hours if you work from home. 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 gym membership?
Generally, no. The ATO treats gym fees, gym clothing, weight management programs and sports supplements such as protein shakes as private, and its fitness guide gives no exception for people who work in the industry. Its general guidance allows gym fees only in very limited cases, where strenuous physical activity is an essential and regular part of your job, so talk to us before you claim them.
Can I claim my activewear and runners?
No, even if your employer requires them. The ATO treats active wear, tracksuits and sports shoes as conventional clothing. A compulsory uniform with your employer's logo is different: you can claim buying it if you pay for it, and washing it even if your employer supplies it.
Can I claim driving to my clients?
Yes, if you have no fixed workplace and travel from client to client before going home, like the personal trainer in the ATO's example. If you have a regular gym or studio, the trip between home and there is usually private, but driving from there to a client session can be claimed.
I am a contractor or run my own personal training business. Is this page for me?
No. This page is written for employees, so it does not cover you if you work as a contractor on your own ABN or run your own personal training business. A business consultation is the better place to start.
How does the $1,000 standard deduction work for fitness and sport employees?
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. Your union and professional association fees go on top either way.
Do you work with fitness and sport employees 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 fitness and sport employees, 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 support workers, hospitality workers and teachers.