Tax deductions for performing artists
For performing artists, a lot of the tax rules come down to the role. Clothes you buy as a costume for one production, and would not otherwise wear, can be claimed. The white shirt and black trousers an orchestra requires cannot. A gym membership is private for most performers, but a trapeze artist whose role demands extremely high fitness and ongoing strenuous activity can claim it.
This page sets out what you can and cannot claim as an actor, musician, singer, dancer, circus performer, director, choreographer or other performing artist 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. Like the ATO's guide, it is written for employees, including radio and television presenters. If you work on your own ABN, are paid as a contractor or are a content creator, it does not cover you, and a business consultation is the better place to start. Journalists, reporters and camera operators should see our media professionals guide.
Aevum Accounting is a CPA practice and registered tax agent in Balcatta, Perth, working with performing artists across Australia.
Approved by Ben De Rosa, CPA. Last checked against the ATO's guidance on 26 September 2026.
What performing artists 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
Costumes you buy or hire, and everyday clothes bought as a costume for one role only.
Stage make-up and the products to remove it, and a hairstyle a role requires.
Washing, dry-cleaning and repairing claimable costumes and clothing.
Agent fees and commission on work you get, but not joining fees.
Singing, acting and dancing lessons, and learning a special skill a role needs.
Researching a role you are employed to play, and tickets to shows directly related to your work.
Maintaining your photographic portfolio for publicity.
Instruments and equipment you use for work, and repairing and insuring them.
Gym fees, but only if your role demands extremely high fitness and strenuous activity.
Accommodation, meals and incidentals you pay for on tour or other overnight work travel.
Overtime meals, but only with an overtime meal allowance under an award or agreement.
The work share of your phone and internet, and union fees.
Not deductible, however it feels
Everyday clothes, even the white shirt and black trousers an orchestra requires.
A range of everyday clothes you might use as costumes, or your own clothes.
Make-up, hairdressing and skin care for your general appearance, even with a grooming allowance.
Gym fees for most performers, and gym clothes and running shoes for everyone.
Preparing for auditions, or getting to them.
Joining fees to an agent, or paying one to negotiate a new contract.
Streaming services and pay TV, and shows you watch out of general interest.
The drive between home and your regular venue, even after a late shift.
Food and drink on a normal shift, even with a meal allowance.
Flowers, alcohol and other gifts for fellow performers, producers or directors.
Work breakfasts, galas, cocktail parties and other social functions.
Your drivers licence, even if the job requires one.
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 performing artists, it depends on the role and who pays for what. If your employer supplies your costumes and make-up, your own work expenses may sit well under $1,000. Agent commission, regular lessons or a new instrument can take you past it. Keep your receipts until you know which side of the line you are on.
Your wages, including cash or bonus payments, and every allowance on your income statement go in your tax return. An allowance does not give you a deduction by itself. In the ATO's example, Bessie, an acrobat, is paid an allowance for each show she performs at above-average heights. She declares it, but cannot claim against it, because it compensates her for a dangerous part of her work, not for work expenses.
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.
The ATO treats performing artists as special professionals. To lessen the impact of income that changes a lot from year to year, special tax rates can apply through income averaging in a year when your professional income is above your average, if you meet the ATO's conditions. If your income from performing goes up and down, talk to us.
Everyday clothing is private, even if your employer requires it. In the ATO's example, Benjamin, an orchestra member, cannot claim the white dress shirt, black tie, black trousers and black shoes he must wear, because they are not distinctive enough to be a uniform.
Costumes are different. You can claim buying or hiring a costume, such as a clown costume, and you may be able to claim everyday clothes bought or hired as a costume for a particular role. In the ATO's example, Cameron, an actor, can claim everyday clothes he buys as a stage costume, which he wears only in that production and would not normally wear. If he bought a range of clothes he might use as costumes, or used his own, he could not.
You can also claim protective clothing, such as fire-resistant clothing, occupation-specific clothing, a compulsory uniform, or a uniform registered on the Register of Approved Occupational Clothing, but not clothing your employer buys, repairs or replaces.
Washing claimable clothing, including a costume for a particular role, 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.
Stage make-up is deductible, including the cleansing products you use to remove it. So is a particular hairstyle a role requires, and hairdressing to keep a hair length or style that is part of a costume. In the ATO's example, Benji, an actor who must grow his hair and dye it dark brown for a film, can claim what he pays his hairdresser to cut and dye it, as his employer does not pay him back.
Hairdressing, cosmetics, and hair and skin care products that do not relate to a role or costume are private, even if you get a grooming allowance or your employer expects you to be well groomed. In the ATO's example, Kate, a singer, cannot claim the make-up artist she pays before each performance or her fortnightly spray tan.
Prescription glasses and contact lenses are private. Tinted contact lenses to change your eye colour, or special frames, are deductible if a role requires them. So are safety glasses and other protective glasses that reduce a real and likely risk of illness or injury at work.
Gym and fitness costs, such as gym fees, skipping ropes and weights, are private for most performers, even if you must pass medical examinations and fitness tests to keep your job. The exception is narrow. Your role must require both an extremely high level of fitness, well above the general standard for your occupation, and ongoing strenuous physical activity as an essential and regular part of the role, like a trapeze artist or tumbler in a circus.
In the ATO's examples, Octavia, a professional ballerina who trains daily and performs Thursday to Sunday most weeks, can claim her gym membership, but not her gym clothes. Alyce, a choreographer, cannot claim her gym fees, because her role does not require ongoing strenuous physical activity.
Clothes you keep fit in, such as tracksuits, running shoes and sports shirts, are never deductible.
Agent fees and commission on work you get are deductible, as long as you pay the commission to the agency separately or the agency takes it out of your fee. So is having your agent renegotiate, review or extend your current contract, if the contract allows for that. Upfront or joining fees are not, and nor is paying an agent to negotiate a new contract.
In the ATO's example, Kate, a singer, is paid $2,400 for a week at a nightclub, and her agent's 10% commission is $240. She declares the $2,400 and claims the $240. If the nightclub paid her agent the commission itself, she could not claim it, because she did not pay it.
Auditions are private, because you are getting work rather than doing it, and so is travel to them. Maintaining a photographic portfolio for publicity is deductible, but not the first cost of preparing it. Gifts such as flowers or alcohol for fellow performers, producers or directors are private, and so are social functions, even compulsory ones.
Coaching classes are deductible if they maintain your existing skills or build related ones, such as singing, acting or dancing lessons. So is learning a special skill a particular role requires. In the ATO's examples, Geoff, an actor cast as a professional tennis player, can claim tennis lessons so he looks proficient in his scenes. Ahmed, a stage actor in a Shakespearean theatre, can claim fencing and vocal training classes, because they relate directly to his current job and will improve his performing skills.
Other study 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, but not if it is for a different job. Seminars and conferences that relate to your work count too. HECS-HELP fees and study loan repayments do not.
You can claim researching a role you have been employed to play, such as books, theatre tickets and other reference material. In the ATO's example, Barry, cast as a former Prime Minister in a TV drama, can claim biographies of that Prime Minister and the direct costs of streaming a documentary series. Other tickets count only if the show's content is directly related to your current work. Ellen, a dancer with a professional ballet company, can claim her ticket to the Bolshoi Ballet's Swan Lake, but Benny, an actor who goes to films and plays out of general interest, cannot. Otherwise, streaming services and pay TV are private.
You can claim instruments and other equipment you use for your work, such as guitars, speakers, lights and microphones, 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, Scott, an employee musician, claims the full $290 for a guitar case he only uses to take his guitar to work. The cost of repairing and insuring your equipment is 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.
Working from home lets you claim the extra running costs it causes, and the decline in value of furniture and equipment you use for work. In the ATO's example, Matteo, a musician, can claim lighting and heating or cooling while he practises in his studio room at home, and the decline in value of his instrument stand, music stand and bookcase, but not rent or mortgage interest. 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 energy, phone and internet, so you cannot also claim those separately.
The trip between home and your regular workplace is private, by car, taxi or ride-share, even if you live a long way away or work late in the evening or on weekends. In the ATO's example, Billy, a club dancer, cannot claim it, even though there is no public transport after his shift.
You can claim driving directly between separate jobs on the same day, as long as neither is your home, to and from an alternative workplace for the same employer on the same day, and from home straight to an alternative workplace. You can also claim trips between home and work if you must carry bulky equipment that is essential to your work and there is no secure storage for it there, as Andre, a street performer, does in the ATO's example.
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 and tolls on work trips are deductible, but not parking at or near your regular workplace, or tolls between home and work. Fines never are. Your drivers licence is private, even if the job requires one, but a special permit you pay for, such as a stunt double's heavy vehicle permit, is deductible.
You can claim accommodation, meals and incidentals when your work requires you to travel and sleep away from home overnight, such as on tour, but not what your employer provides or pays you back for. In the ATO's example, Veronique tours for 22 weeks with an opera company that pays her airfares and accommodation, plus a $375 a week allowance for meals and incidentals. She declares the $8,250 and claims what she actually spent. She spent less than the reasonable amount each day, so she needs no receipts, but must be able to show how she worked out her claim and that she spent the money. Claim more and you need written evidence for all of it, and overseas accommodation always needs it. From 2026-27, travel allowance expenses you claim count against the $1,000 standard deduction, and the reasonable amount exception still applies.
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, Eric, a theme park performer, gets a $14.62 allowance on each of 10 overtime occasions, shown as $146.20 on his income statement, spends $18.50 on each meal and claims $185.
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.
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 costumes and stage make-up?
Yes, if you pay for them yourself. You can claim buying or hiring a costume, and stage make-up and the products to remove it. You may also be able to claim everyday clothes bought only as a costume for a particular role, if you wear them only in that role and would not normally wear them. Everyday clothes an employer requires, and make-up for your general appearance, are private.
Can I claim my gym membership?
Only if your role requires both an extremely high level of fitness, well above the general standard for your occupation, and ongoing strenuous physical activity as an essential and regular part of it. In the ATO's examples, a circus trapeze artist and a professional ballerina can claim, but a choreographer cannot. Gym clothes are private either way.
Can I claim my agent's commission?
Yes, on work you get, if you pay the commission to the agency or the agency takes it out of your fee. You can also claim the cost of your agent renegotiating or extending your current contract, if the contract allows for it. Joining fees are not deductible, and nor is paying an agent to negotiate a new contract.
I work on my own ABN or as a contractor. Is this page for me?
Only for work you do as an employee. Like the ATO's guide, this page is written for employees, so it does not cover work on your own ABN, contract work or content creation. For those, a business consultation is the better place to start.
How does the $1,000 standard deduction work for performing artists?
From the 2026-27 return, you get up to $1,000 automatically, with no receipts needed. Any work expenses you claim reduce it, including lessons, 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 performing artists 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 performing artists 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. 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 media professionals, professional sportspeople and hospitality workers.