Nurses and Midwives: The Night Shift Tax Guide

CORRECTION NOTICE, updated 23 September 2026 This is one of the more accurate episodes in the series. It gets right the things that tripped up several others: home-to-work travel, the alternative workplace rule, the working-from-home rate not being paired with a separate phone claim, actual hours for the whole year, and the reportable fringe benefits amount counting in full for HELP. A fact-check found four things to fix and two significant gaps. The audio cannot be changed, so the corrections are marked inline below. Where the recording and this page disagree, this page is right. 1. A JOKE IN THE EPISODE ENDORSES OVER-CLAIMING, AND NOBODY CORRECTS IT. The line is "for fifty bucks worth of washing powder a year, I could get a $150 deduction. I like those odds." The $150 is a record-keeping concession, not an entitlement. The ATO's words are that if your laundry claim is $150 or less "you don't need to keep records but you will still need to calculate and be able to show how you worked out your claim". That concession applies to 2025-26 and earlier years and ends from 2026-27. At $1 a load that is 150 loads of work-only washing in a year. You have to have actually done them. 2. THE SHOES TEST IS COLOUR, STYLE AND TYPE, NOT BRAND AND MODEL. The episode sets the bar far too high and will stop nurses claiming shoes they are entitled to. It also misses the easier route: non-slip shoes are protective clothing, and protective clothing is deductible on its own footing without any uniform policy at all. 3. THE CAR RATE HAS GONE UP. The episode says 88 cents per kilometre. For the 2026-27 income year it is 91 cents, set by LI 2026/19. The 5,000 kilometre cap is unchanged. 4. THE THIRD GOLDEN RULE IS A RECORD, USUALLY BUT NOT ALWAYS A RECEIPT. For 2025-26 and earlier years, laundry claims of $150 or less, and total work expenses of $300 or less, have their own concessions. Both end from 2026-27. THE TWO GAPS 5. THE EPISODE IS CALLED "THE NIGHT SHIFT TAX GUIDE" AND CONTAINS NOTHING ABOUT NIGHT SHIFT. Here is the position it should have given. A shift allowance or penalty rate is assessable income in full, and it generates no deduction. The ATO's own example in the nurses guide is a registered nurse called Reginald whose employer pays a shift allowance when his shift finishes between 6pm and 8am: he must declare it, and he cannot claim anything against it, because it compensates him for his working conditions rather than covering an expense. On-call allowances work the same way. Overtime meal allowances are the different case: they are usually not on your income statement, so you leave them out unless you are claiming a deduction, in which case you declare the allowance and claim the actual expense. 6. AHPRA REGISTRATION IS NEVER MENTIONED, AND IT IS THE MOST UNIVERSAL NURSING DEDUCTION THERE IS. Renewing your annual practising certificate is deductible. Your first one is not, because you incur that cost to be able to start work rather than in the course of earning your income. That distinction catches new graduates every year. Verified against the ATO's nurses and midwives occupation guide (QC 20811), its clothing, laundry and dry-cleaning guidance, and LI 2026/19. ---------- Welcome, to the Podcast! Our newsletter made easy! Please note, this podcast features AI-generated voices for your hosts, Mia Taylor and Leo Baker, bringing you expert insights from owner, Ben De Rosa, at Aevum Accounting. Each week, we're here to help you confidently navigate the ins and outs of Australian tax – whether it's for your individual finances, or the complexities of your business. We'll cut through the jargon to give you strategies for compliance, smart planning, and that ultimate peace of mind. So, if you're looking to understand your obligations, maximize your financial position, or simply gain clarity on your money matters, you're in the right place. Let's get started with our review of the week! Christopher Rebeiro said "Ben provided a fantastic service for our family, he took the time to understand both of our jobs and explained to us a lot of new information relating to our tax. Ben was thorough in his review of our documentation and identified issues that I wasn’t aware of that he rectified from previous tax returns. He works extremely efficiently but he also has a very personal touch with his work and we never felt rushed throughout our meeting. This was our families first visit to Ben but we will definitely be using his services again in the future!" Thank you for the amazing feedback Christopher! We love hearing from our clients and a positive review gets our podcast started on the right foot. And we are back! Leo Baker here, and today on our series focusing on specific professions, we are talking about the true heroes of our community. They are the people running on caffeine and compassion, the absolute legends of the wards: our nurses and midwives. They really are, Leo. It’s a demanding, high-stakes career, and the last thing they need is the headache of a complicated tax return. So today, we're going to administer some financial first aid and break down the essential tax guide for nurses and midwives. Let's do it! What’s the first dose of advice? We always start with the ATO’s Three Golden Rules. They are the foundation for every single claim. First, you must have spent the money yourself and were not reimbursed. Second, the expense has to directly relate to you earning your income. And third, you must have a record, like a receipt, to prove it. [CORRECTION: a record, usually but not always a receipt. For 2025-26 and earlier years, laundry claims of $150 or less, and total work expenses of $300 or less, have their own concessions, and stating the rule absolutely puts nurses off legitimate small claims. Both concessions end from 2026-27.] Your money, for your job, with your proof. Got it. Okay, let's talk about a big one. Nurses and midwives work crazy hours. What about claiming car expenses for getting to and from the hospital at 3 AM? That’s a common point of confusion, but the ATO is very clear: you cannot claim the cost of normal trips between home and work. Wow, okay, that’s a firm no. So when *can* they claim their car expenses? You can claim when you're travelling for work during the day. This could be travelling between workplaces for the same employer, like from one clinic to another, or for different employers, like driving from your hospital shift to a second job. You can also claim the trip if you travel from home directly to an alternative workplace, like a training venue. There's also a specific rule for 'itinerant work'. This is where travel is a fundamental part of your job. Think of a community nurse who has a 'web' of workplaces and travels from patient to patient all day before going home. In that case, the travel between home and your various work sites can be deductible. Okay, so if you do a lot of eligible driving, how do you claim it? You have two choices. The first is the 'cents per kilometre' method. For the current financial year, you can claim 88 cents per work-related kilometre, for up to a maximum of 5,000 kilometres. [CORRECTION: the rate has risen. For the 2026-27 income year it is 91 cents per kilometre, set by LI 2026/19. The 5,000 kilometre cap per car is unchanged. The rate is reset most years, so use the one for the year you are claiming.] The second is the 'logbook method'. This is more work as you need to keep a logbook, but it often results in a bigger deduction if you do a lot of driving. Let’s move on to the work wardrobe. We’re talking scrubs, sensible shoes, the whole look. Exactly. You can claim for a compulsory uniform that is distinctive to your employer. You can also claim for protective clothing, which includes items like non-slip shoes, gloves, and aprons. What about socks and shoes? They're part of the uniform, right? This is a great detail. You can claim for shoes, socks, and stockings, but only if they are an essential part of a distinctive, compulsory uniform, and the specific colour, style, and type are spelled out in your employer's strictly-enforced uniform policy. So if the policy just says "wear black shoes," that's a no. But if it says "you must wear *this specific brand and model* of black shoe," that's a yes. Very specific! [CORRECTION: the first half is right, the second sets the bar much too high. The ATO's test is that the shoes are an essential part of a distinctive compulsory uniform and that their "characteristics (colour, style and type) are an integral and distinctive part of your uniform that your employer specifies in the uniform policy". Colour alone is not enough, which is why "wear black shoes" fails. Brand and model are not required. And there is an easier route this episode skips entirely: non-slip shoes are protective clothing, and protective clothing is deductible on its own footing, with no uniform policy needed. For most nurses that is the claim that actually applies.] What about laundry? You can claim up to $150 in laundry expenses without needing to keep written evidence. The ATO's suggested rate is $1 per load for just work clothes, or 50 cents per load if you mix in your personal clothes. So, for fifty bucks worth of washing powder a year, I could get a $150 deduction? I like those odds! [CORRECTION: no, and nobody in the episode pushes back on this, so we will. The $150 is a concession on record keeping, not a free deduction. The ATO's words are that if your laundry claim is $150 or less "you don't need to keep records but you will still need to calculate and be able to show how you worked out your claim". That concession applies to 2025-26 and earlier years and ends from 2026-27. At the ATO's rate of $1 per load for work-only washing, $150 means 150 loads across the year, roughly three a week. If you did not do them, you cannot claim them. Fifty dollars of washing powder gets you a claim based on the loads you actually ran, not $150.] Okay, what about education? You can claim self-education expenses for a course if it maintains or improves a skill required for your current job, or is likely to lead to an increase in income from your current job. One thing to note is that you cannot claim your HECS-HELP repayments. But if it's a masters degree, not commonwealth supported on a FEE-HELP loan you may be able to claim this cost. Okay, what about the tools of the trade? Stethoscopes, that sort of thing? And what about my watch? Every nurse has a watch! Let's break that down. You can claim depreciation on equipment you buy for work, like a stethoscope. Now, watches are a special case. You cannot claim the cost of an ordinary wristwatch, as that's considered a private expense. However, you *can* claim for a watch with 'special characteristics', like a stopwatch or a traditional fob watch needed for taking a patient's pulse. Aha! The classic fob watch is a go! What's the rule for claiming these tools? There's a handy threshold. If the equipment costs $300 or less, you can claim an immediate deduction for the work-related portion of the cost. If it's over $300, you claim the decline in value, or depreciation, over its effective life instead. Okay, what about working from home? A lot of admin and study happens at the kitchen table. Yes, and you can claim for it. The easiest way is using the ATO's fixed-rate method, which for the current financial year is 70 cents an hour. [CORRECTION: 70 cents is the rate for 2024-25 and 2025-26. The ATO has not yet published a rate for 2026-27, so check before you lodge.] That rate is a bundle that covers your electricity, gas, internet, phone, and stationery costs. You can then still claim depreciation on your desk, chair, and computer separately. The crucial thing to remember with this method is that you must keep a record of *all* the hours you worked from home for the entire year – a four-week diary is not enough. That's a vital tip! Okay, let's get to the big one: salary packaging. It is a huge advantage for nurses and midwives in the public health system. It allows you to pay for certain expenses with your pre-tax salary, which reduces your taxable income. [ADDED, because the episode is titled "The Night Shift Tax Guide" and never covers night shift: a shift allowance or penalty rate is assessable income in full and produces no deduction. The ATO's own example is a registered nurse paid a shift allowance when his shift finishes between 6pm and 8am. He declares it, and he claims nothing against it, because the allowance compensates him for his working conditions rather than covering an expense he incurs. On-call allowances are the same. Overtime meal allowances are the exception worth knowing: they usually do not appear on your income statement, so you leave them out unless you are claiming, in which case you declare the allowance and claim what you actually spent.] So you get a tax break on your rent *and* your weekend brunch? That is amazing. There must be a catch. There is one very important consideration. Any benefit you package creates a "Reportable Fringe Benefit Amount" on your income statement. This amount gets added back to your taxable income to calculate your repayment income for government debts. For many nurses and midwives, this can lead to a surprise increase in their compulsory HELP or HECS debt repayments. Ouch. So the benefit is massive, but it needs to be managed carefully. It really shows how important it is to get good advice. It’s the perfect example. The tax world for nurses and midwives is filled with these specific opportunities, from claiming the right watch to structuring a salary package. Getting it right can save you thousands. [ADDED, and this is the biggest omission in the episode: your AHPRA registration. Renewing your annual practising certificate is deductible. Your first one is not, because you incur that cost to be able to start work rather than while earning your income. Nearly every nurse and midwife in the country pays this every year, and new graduates regularly claim the initial registration by mistake.] And helping our clients navigate this is what we do at Aevum Accounting. We specialise in understanding the unique financial landscape for healthcare professionals. We can work with you to make sure you're claiming every last deduction and help you structure your salary package in a way that truly benefits you, without any nasty surprises. It’s about getting a specialist to look after your finances, so you can focus on looking after your patients! A perfect way to wrap it up. And that brings us to the end of another episode! We hope today's discussion has provided you with valuable insights and helps you navigate your financial world with greater confidence. Before we go, a quick but important reminder: The information and strategies shared on this podcast are for general informational purposes only and do not constitute specific tax or financial advice. Everyone's situation is unique, and tax laws are complex and constantly evolving. For personalized advice tailored to your specific individual or business needs, we always recommend consulting with a qualified professional. You can connect with our team at Aevum Accounting visit our website to learn more about our services, including detailed tax guides for various occupations, and how we can support your financial journey. Thank you so much for tuning in! If you enjoyed this episode, please consider subscribing, leaving us a review, and sharing it with anyone who might benefit. Your support helps us reach more Australians. Until next time, stay savvy, stay proactive, and keep building your financial future! From all of us at Aevum Accounting, goodbye for now!