Tax deductions for professional sportspeople
For professional sportspeople, the tax rules treat fitness as part of the job, up to a point. Your gym fees can be claimed, because the ATO accepts that keeping a very high level of fitness is an essential part of how you earn your income. Protein shakes, a special diet and treatment for an injury you get playing cannot.
This page sets out what you can and cannot claim as a professional footballer, cricketer, basketballer, netballer or other athlete 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 people who make their living playing professional sport as an employee. Coaches, trainers, referees, umpires and support staff should read our guide for fitness and sport employees instead. If you work on your own ABN, or run your sponsorships and endorsements as a business, start with a business consultation.
Aevum Accounting is a CPA practice and registered tax agent in Balcatta, Perth, working with professional sportspeople across Australia.
Approved by Ben De Rosa, CPA. Last checked against the ATO's guidance on 26 September 2026.
What professional sportspeople 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
Gym fees, if you pay them yourself.
Gym and training equipment, such as markers and a ball, for the work share.
Protective gear you buy, such as studded football boots, shin pads and sports skins.
A sun shirt, sunglasses and sunscreen, if you train or play in the sun for long periods.
Washing protective clothing and a compulsory uniform.
Fines for on-field conduct, and legal costs to defend them.
Player manager fees for disputes, changes, renewals or extensions of your existing contract.
Meals and accommodation you pay for on overnight trips for games and tours.
Luggage you use to carry your gear on work trips.
Driving to an away game, or from training to a meeting at your club's head office.
Training courses that relate to your work as a player.
Players' association fees and income protection insurance.
The work share of your phone and internet.
Not deductible, however it feels
Protein shakes, vitamins and other sports supplements.
Special diet food and weight management programs.
Tracksuits, runners, socks, sporting shirts and shorts, even if your club requires them.
Extra training gear you choose to buy when your club supplies your kit.
Medical treatment, even for an injury you get playing.
Private health insurance, even if your contract requires it.
The drive between home and your regular training venue, even with your bat and shoes.
Fines for off-field conduct or for breaking the law, such as a traffic fine on the way to a game.
A dinner with your manager about your contract, and other entertainment.
Moving to a new club, even with a relocation allowance.
Travel insurance, even for a tour.
Study for a career after sport, such as coaching courses.
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 professional sportspeople, it depends on what your club pays for. If the club covers your gym, gear and travel, your own work expenses may sit well under $1,000. Gym fees, equipment or a training course you pay for yourself can take you past it, like the $2,000 course in the ATO's example below. Keep your receipts until you know which side of the line you are on.
Professional sportspeople can claim gym fees and other fitness-related expenses, because the ATO accepts that maintaining a very high level of fitness and physical activity is an essential part of how you earn your income.
Equipment you use to perform your duties, including gym and training equipment, is claimable for its work-related use. 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, Olivia, a professional soccer player, buys markers and a soccer ball for $100 to keep up her skills at home before preseason. Her family uses them too, so she works out 70% work use and claims $70. Repairs are deductible for the work share too.
The fitness rule has firm limits. You cannot claim a program specifically designed to manage your weight, normal food substitutes, food for special dietary purposes, or vitamins, minerals and sports supplements such as protein shakes.
Medical expenses are private, including treatment for injuries you get while playing or taking part in professional sport. The ATO's general guidance on medical expenses says physiotherapy to treat an injury or ailment is private too. The sportsperson guide does not mention massage, so talk to us before you claim it. Private health insurance is not deductible, even if your contract requires it.
Conventional clothing, including footwear, is private, even if your club requires it and you only wear it at work. The ATO's own example is sports gear worn by athletes, and it says you can never claim tracksuits, running or aerobic shoes, socks, sporting shirts or shorts you use to keep fit.
You can claim what you pay to buy, hire, repair or replace protective clothing, a compulsory uniform, or a non-compulsory uniform your employer has registered on the Register of Approved Occupational Clothing, but not clothing your employer buys, repairs or replaces. Protective clothing protects you from specific risks of injury or illness at work, such as studded football boots, shin or leg pads, and clothing with sun protection. A compulsory uniform is one your employer strictly and consistently enforces and that distinctly identifies you as working for them.
In the ATO's examples, John, a professional rugby league player, can claim the $80 SPF 50+ long sleeve sun shirt he buys to train in, even though it has no logo, because he trains in the sun for extended periods and the shirt is designed to protect him from it. Renee, a W-League soccer player, cannot claim extra training wear she chooses to buy on top of the training uniforms her club supplies, because it is conventional clothing and not part of a uniform.
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 professional Australian Rules football player, buys sports skins to reduce the risk of injury, so they count as protective clothing. She washes them as a separate load 3 times a week for the 30 weeks she trains and plays with her club, and claims $90.
Sunglasses, sunhats and sunscreen, including prescription sunglasses, 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. Ordinary prescription glasses and contact lenses are private.
Your salary and wages go in your tax return, including cash or bonus payments, and so does every allowance on your income statement. In the ATO's example, Cameron, a professional footballer, must include the $1,500 in cash he is given for being player of the match.
Money from someone other than your club may need to go in your return too, such as prize money that rewards you as a player, payments from sponsors, and player's retirement fund payments. So may the market value of a non-cash benefit you or your family receive because of your sport or your profile, if it is not subject to fringe benefits tax for your employer.
An allowance does not give you a deduction by itself. A performance or relocation allowance is income with nothing to claim against it, because it does not help you pay for deductible expenses. In the ATO's examples, Alistair, an AFL player in Victoria, declares the relocation allowance he gets when he signs with a new club in South Australia, and cannot claim his moving costs. Mary, a professional netball player, declares the meal allowance she gets when her team travels interstate, and claims the meals she buys.
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.
As a professional sportsperson, you may also be entitled to a lower rate of tax through income averaging, where your professional income, added to your other income, moves you into a higher tax bracket. The ATO works it out from the professional income, less the deductions that relate to it, that you show in your return. Talk to us about whether it applies to you.
The trip between home and your regular workplace is private, even if you live a long way away or train early in the morning or on weekends. Carrying your gear does not change that unless it is essential to your duties and bulky, and there is no secure storage for it at work. In the ATO's example, Liz, a professional cricket player, drives to the venue where she trains and home games are played, carrying her cricket shoes and bat. They are essential, but not bulky, so her trips are private.
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 to an alternative workplace for the same employer on the same day, such as from your training venue to your club's head office for a meeting, and from home straight to an alternative place of work. In one of the ATO's examples, a drive to an away game is work-related travel to an alternative work location. If you are not sure whether a venue counts, talk to us before you claim it.
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, and so are taxi, ride-share and public transport fares when you travel for work, unless your employer pays you back.
You can claim accommodation, meals and incidentals when your work requires you to travel and sleep away from home overnight, for example 3 nights interstate to play in a national competition. You cannot claim a room or meals your employer provides, costs someone pays you back for, meals on a trip where you come home the same day, or a night near your workplace that you chose instead of going home.
In the ATO's example, Ruth, a professional cricket player on the Ashes tour of England, can claim the meals she pays for, but not the flights and accommodation her employer pays directly, or the meals provided on game days.
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 part above. From 2026-27, travel allowance expenses you claim count against the $1,000 standard deduction, and the reasonable amount exception still applies.
Luggage you use for work travel, such as a bag for your gear on an interstate trip, is deductible for the work share, outright if it costs $300 or less and you use it mainly for work, otherwise over its effective life. Travel insurance is private, and so is moving for a transfer or a new club.
Under an existing playing contract, you can claim what you pay a player manager to settle a dispute over its terms that results in payments of income to you, including the cost of representation, and to change, renegotiate, renew or extend it, if the existing agreement allows for that. Fees to negotiate a new playing contract may be claimable too, depending on the contract and your competition's rules. The ATO says to get advice, so talk to us before you claim it.
Generally, you can claim fines and penalties for on-field conduct, and legal costs to defend them, including over a tribunal decision, where they result from your performance as a player and are part of the sporting activity. In the ATO's example, Jared, a professional rugby league player, can claim the $1,500 fine he gets for a high tackle. Fines and legal costs for off-field conduct are private, and so are fines for breaking an Australian or foreign law. Laura, a professional netball player, cannot claim the fine for running a red light on the way to an away game, even though the trip was work-related.
Entertainment is private, even when you only talk about work. In the ATO's example, Billy, a professional AFL player, cannot claim the dinner he pays for with his manager to discuss his contract and sponsorship deals, or the trip to the restaurant.
Self-education is deductible if it directly relates to your work as a professional sportsperson and maintains or improves the skills and knowledge you need for your current duties, or is likely to increase your income from your current employment. It is not 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.
Seminars, conferences and training courses that relate to your work as a player are deductible, including fares, registration and, if you stay overnight, accommodation and meals, unless your employer pays. In the ATO's examples, Sally, a professional rugby union player, can claim a $2,000 course on physical endurance and nutrition that her club encourages players to attend but does not pay for. Jamie, a soccer player near the end of his career, cannot claim the coaching seminars and courses he attends to prepare for a coaching role.
Players' association and professional association fees are deductible, and your income statement can be your proof. Income protection premiums are deductible if the policy covers you only for loss of your employment income, and from 2026-27 they sit outside the $1,000 standard deduction.
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. A phone your employer provides and pays for is not claimable, and calls to family and friends are private, even when you are away for work.
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, for trips away, records that show you were away and what you spent. 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?
Yes, if you pay for it yourself. The ATO lets professional sportspeople claim gym fees, because keeping a very high level of fitness is an essential part of how you earn your income. Protein shakes, supplements, special diet food and weight management programs are still private.
Can I claim my boots and training gear?
Protective gear, yes, if you buy it yourself, such as studded football boots, shin or leg pads, and a sun shirt if you train in the sun for long periods. Everyday sports gear, such as tracksuits, runners, socks, sporting shirts and shorts, is conventional clothing, so it is private even if your club requires it.
Can I claim treatment for an injury I get playing?
No. The ATO says medical expenses are private, including treatment for injuries you get while playing or taking part in professional sport, and its general guidance says the same of physiotherapy to treat an injury. Private health insurance is not deductible either. The ATO's guide for sportspeople does not mention massage, so talk to us before you claim it.
Do I have to declare prize money and sponsorship?
You may need to. The ATO says amounts you receive from someone other than your club can be income, such as prize money that rewards you as a player and payments from sponsors. This page is written for employees, so if you work on your own ABN or run your sponsorships as a business, a business consultation is the better place to start.
How does the $1,000 standard deduction work for professional sportspeople?
From the 2026-27 return, you get up to $1,000 automatically, with no receipts needed. Any work expenses you claim reduce it, including your gym fees, 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 players' association fees and income protection premiums go on top either way.
Do you work with professional sportspeople 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 professional sportspeople 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 fitness and sport employees and performing artists.