The Taxman's Rich List: 10 Surprising Deductions for Australia's Top 10 Jobs
Updated: Aug 24
The ATO publishes average taxable income by occupation each year with its taxation statistics. The most recent release covers the 2023-24 income year and came out on 17 June 2026. Surgeons top the list, as they have for fifteen years, with 4,280 individuals reporting an average taxable income of $519,998.
Updated 24 August 2026: this article previously quoted the ATO's 2022-23 figures as current and described general practitioners as part of the top ten. The figures have been updated to the 2023-24 release and several of the deduction explanations corrected, because a few of them overstated what is actually claimable.
It's easy to look at those high incomes and think tax is simple for them, but the truth is, the more specialised the job, the more specialised the expenses.
Today, we're peeking into the wallets of Australia's highest earners to reveal one specific, interesting, or surprising tax deduction they might be able to claim. But this isn't just financial gossip. The real takeaway is the principle: every single job has its own unique, claimable expenses, and you don't need to earn $400,000 to benefit from expert, tailored tax advice.
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The Top 10 Jobs & Their Unique Deductions
A note on the order: the exact ranking below the top spot shifts between income years, and the ATO publishes the full occupation table with each release. Check the current table if you need exact figures for a particular year.
1. Surgeons
The Deduction: Lead-lined aprons
The Why: A lead apron is protective equipment against a real and likely risk of injury, so it is deductible in principle. Two conditions matter in practice: you cannot claim it if the hospital supplies, pays for or reimburses it, which is usually the case for theatre aprons; and above $300 you claim decline in value over its effective life rather than the whole cost at once.
2. Anaesthetists
The Deduction: A smartwatch, but usually not
The Why: This one is commonly got the wrong way round. The ATO's starting position is that with few exceptions you cannot claim a watch or smart watch. The exception is narrow: the work functions have to be essential to your duties, you need a diary or similar record of the work use, you apportion for private use, and it fails where your employer already provides an adequate device. Above $300 it is a decline in value claim.
3. Financial Dealers
The Deduction: Home internet, with a catch
The Why: Monitoring markets that trade overnight is genuine work use. But if you use the fixed rate method for working from home, internet is already inside that rate and cannot be claimed again separately. Only under the actual cost method can you claim it on its own, and then only the apportioned work share with records. Calling it dedicated does not make it fully deductible.
4. Internal Medicine Specialists
The Deduction: International conference and travel costs
The Why: Deductible where the conference maintains or improves the knowledge you need for your current role. Registration, fares, and accommodation and meals where you have to stay away overnight. The part usually missed is apportionment: a trip with a real private purpose has to be split, and the ATO's own example allows only part of the airfare.
5. Psychiatrists
The Deduction: Artwork and furniture, worth far less than it sounds
The Why: Artwork can be a depreciating asset of a practice, but the ATO's effective life for artworks is 100 years. That is roughly 1 per cent of the cost a year, so $40,000 of art gives about $400. The entry is also restricted to works displayed in open viewing areas of premises used for a taxable purpose, and it does nothing for an employee. Where a small business is eligible, an instant asset write-off can be a far better route for an item under the threshold. Furniture follows the ordinary depreciating asset rules.
6. Other Medical Practitioners
The Deduction: Practice fit-out
The Why: A correction first: general practitioners are NOT in this category. They are a separate occupation group in the classification the ATO uses, and their average income is considerably lower. Other medical practitioners covers dermatologists, emergency medicine specialists, obstetricians, ophthalmologists, pathologists, radiologists and similar. For any practice owner, fit-out of a waiting or consulting room is a business outgoing or a depreciating asset under the ordinary rules.
7. Mining Engineers
The Deduction: High-protection sunglasses
The Why: Deductible where your work requires you to be outdoors and exposed to a real risk of eye damage from sunlight. Prescription, photochromatic and anti-glare versions all qualify. Apportion if you also wear them privately.
8. Judicial and Legal Professionals
The Deduction: A barrister's floor fees
The Why: Note the term is floor fees, sometimes called chambers or clerk fees, not door fees. Barristers usually operate as sole traders and pay a regular fee to their chambers that funds the day-to-day running of the floor, including staff. It is an ordinary cost of the practice. Judicial officers are employees and have no floor fees to claim.
9. CEOs and Managing Directors
The Deduction: Public speaking coaching
The Why: Coaching that maintains or improves a skill you use in your current role can qualify as self-education, and presenting to media and shareholders is squarely part of a chief executive's job. Personal brand coaching is a weaker case, because it builds a personal asset that travels with you rather than a skill for the role you hold. And there is no deduction at all where your employer pays or reimburses you.
10. Financial Investment Advisers
The Deduction: Renewals, not the initial qualification
The Why: The annual renewal of a membership or accreditation you need for your current work is deductible. The initial cost of obtaining a qualification you must hold before you can be employed in the field is not. Study and exam costs for a designation are self-education, deductible only where they connect to the role you already hold rather than opening up a new one.
The Real Punchline: This Applies to You, Too
It’s not what you earn; it’s what you keep.
This list just proves one simple principle: every single job has its own set of unique, claimable expenses, whether you're a surgeon on this list or a teacher, tradie, or nurse.
Most of these are claimable by ordinary earners too, if someone is actually looking.
You don’t need to be earning half a million dollars to benefit from expert, tailored tax advice. That's what we focus on at Aevum Accounting. Our job is to understand the specific nuances of your profession, dig deep, and make sure you're claiming everything you are legally and ethically entitled to.
Stop leaving money on the table.
Book a consultation with our team today: (https://www.aevumaccounting.com.au/bookings) and let us find the deductions you've been missing.
Prefer to listen? We covered this in The Taxman's Rich List: Deductions of the Top 10, episode 16 of the Aevum Accounting Podcast.
Disclaimer: The information and strategies shared in this article 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 personalised advice tailored to your specific individual or business needs, we always recommend consulting with a qualified professional at Aevum Accounting.
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