Tax deductions for real estate agents
Real estate is a job where you spend your own money to earn your income. The car, the phone, the letterbox drops, the flowers on the kitchen bench before an open home. Some of it is deductible, some of it never is, and for a few items the answer turns on how you are paid.
This page sets out what you can and cannot claim as a real estate sales agent, property manager or other real estate 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 agents who are employees, including agents paid partly or entirely by commission. If you run your own business or contract through an ABN, you claim differently, and the personal services income rules may apply to you. That is a conversation for a business consultation, and the first conversation for a new business is free.
Aevum Accounting is a CPA practice and registered tax agent in Balcatta, Perth, working with real estate agents and property managers across Australia.
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 agency 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
Driving from home straight to an inspection or open home, or between open homes and offices on the same day.
Parking and tolls on those work trips.
Phone, data and internet, for the work-related portion.
Advertising you pay for, such as letterbox drops and signage, if you are entitled to earn commission.
Flowers for a property, if you are entitled to earn commission on its sale.
Client gifts, such as a hamper or wine, if you are entitled to earn commission or a retainer.
Renewing your real estate registration or licence. The renewal, yes. The first one, no.
Union and professional association fees. If the amount is on your income statement, that is your proof.
CPD, seminars, conferences and training linked to your current role.
A camera for property photos, for the work-related portion.
Business cards, diaries and other stationery you buy for work.
Wages you pay an assistant, if you are paid by commission only.
Working from home, at 70 cents per hour for 2024-25 and 2025-26, or actual costs.
Income protection premiums you pay outside super.
Not deductible, however it feels
The drive between home and your office, even if you start early or finish late at night.
Client breakfasts, lunches and dinners. That is entertainment, even if you talk business.
Gifts that are entertainment, such as footy tickets.
Advertising and client gifts, if you are on a fixed salary with no entitlement to commission.
Business attire, including a suit, unless it is a registered uniform.
Haircuts, cosmetics and grooming, even with a grooming allowance.
Golf and other recreational club fees, even if you meet clients there.
Your first registration or licence, and a police clearance to get the job.
Your drivers licence, even if the job requires one.
Fines, including one you get on the way to an open home.
Parking at or near your office.
Prescription glasses or contact lenses.
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 written evidence for every dollar you claim, not just the part above $1,000.
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.
For agents, it comes down to how much of the job you pay for yourself. An agent entitled to commission who drives to inspections and pays for advertising can pass $1,000 in a year, and then needs records for all of it. A salaried property manager whose agency covers most costs may do better with the standard deduction. It does not apply if business income through an ABN is your only income.
You cannot claim the drive between home and your office. That is private travel, even if you live a long way out or work outside normal business hours.
You can claim driving from home straight to an inspection or open home instead of going to the office first, because the property is an alternative workplace. You can also claim driving between separate offices or open homes for the same employer on the same day. In the ATO's example, Patricia, a property manager, drives from home to rental inspections and then to the office, and can claim every leg.
If you have no fixed workplace and travel from one appointment to the next before going home, every trip counts, including the first one from home and the last one back. That is the ATO's Emmanuel example.
A laptop is not bulky equipment. In the ATO's example, Diana carries hers to and from work by car and still cannot claim the trip.
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. The rate covers all your car expenses, including fuel. You still need a record of how you worked out the kilometres.
Logbook. A 12-week logbook establishes your work-use percentage, and you keep evidence of the actual costs.
If your car is salary packaged under a novated lease, you cannot claim its running costs, because it is usually your employer that leases the car and makes it available to you. You can still claim work-related parking and tolls you pay yourself.
Parking at or near your office is not deductible. Parking and tolls on trips to clients and properties are, on top of your car expenses. Fines never are. In the ATO's example, Chris gets a red light fine driving to an open house and cannot claim it, even though he was travelling for work.
All three turn on one question: are you entitled to earn commission?
If you are, you can claim advertising you pay for, such as newspaper advertising, letterbox drops, signage and bunting. You can claim decorating items for a property, such as flowers, if you are entitled to earn commission on its sale. And you can claim gifts you buy for work purposes, such as a Christmas hamper, wine or gift vouchers, if you are entitled to earn commission or a retainer.
If you are on a fixed salary and not entitled to earn commission, you cannot claim any of them, even if you pay for them yourself.
You also have to be the one who pays. In the ATO's example, Robin earns commission, but her clients pay for the advertising, so she has nothing to claim.
Gifts that are entertainment are never deductible. Tickets to the footy, or to any other live sporting event, are entertainment.
You cannot claim entertainment, fundraising or social functions, even if they are compulsory or you discuss work while you are there. That includes work breakfasts, lunches and dinners, meals with clients, and going to sporting events. You cannot claim the travel to and from them either.
In the ATO's examples, Rachael cannot claim a Real Estate Institute social breakfast her employer encouraged her to attend. Geoff cannot claim his $930 golf club membership, even though he meets potential clients there, because recreational club fees are private.
Renewing the real estate certificate of registration or licence you hold as an employee is deductible. Your first certificate or licence is not, because the ATO treats it as a cost of getting the job rather than doing it. Neither is a police clearance you need to get the job. Your drivers licence is never deductible, even if you need it for the job.
Union and professional association fees you pay are deductible, including membership of a real estate institute such as REIWA. If the amount is on your income statement, you can use that as your evidence.
CPD, seminars, conferences and training courses are deductible if they relate to your current work. In the ATO's example, Christine, a property manager, pays for a CPD course on short-term rentals and can claim it and the associated costs. If you have to stay away overnight for a conference, you can claim accommodation and meals too, but not a registration fee your employer paid.
Self-education is deductible if, when you pay for it, it maintains or improves the skills and knowledge you need for your current duties, or is likely to increase your income from your current job. It is not deductible if it is designed to get you a new job or change jobs. In the ATO's example, Deakin, an agent who may set up his own agency one day, cannot claim a Bachelor of Commerce, because it does not directly relate to his current job. Study loan repayments are never deductible.
Business attire is not deductible. The ATO's own example of conventional clothing is business attire worn by real estate agents, and it is private even if your agency requires it and you only wear it at work.
You can only claim clothing that is protective, occupation-specific, part of a compulsory uniform, or a registered non-compulsory uniform. A business suit is not occupation-specific, because it does not identify your profession, but a suit in your agency's colours and logo can qualify if your employer has registered it as a uniform. In the ATO's example, Lena buys her company's suit, which is a registered non-compulsory uniform, and can claim the cost of buying and maintaining it.
A compulsory uniform has to be strictly and consistently enforced by your employer, and distinctly identify you as working for that employer or the products or services it provides. If your agency supplies compulsory logo shirts, you can claim washing them, but not the plain black pants and shoes you wear with them. In the ATO's example, Chloe washes her logo polo shirts in mixed loads twice a week for 40 weeks and claims $40, at 50 cents a load. A load of work clothing only is $1.
Haircuts, cosmetics, and hair and skin care products are private, even if you get a grooming allowance or your agency expects you to be well groomed.
Sunscreen, sunglasses and a hat are deductible only if your duties require you to work outdoors for prolonged periods. If your job does not, they are private.
Prescription glasses and contact lenses are private, even if you need them to work. Anti-glare or protective glasses you wear to reduce the risk of illness or injury can be claimed.
Phone, data and internet costs are deductible for the work-related portion. You need your bills and a record of your work use over a representative four-week period. In the ATO's example, Sebastian claims 80% of his $55 monthly plan, $466.40 over 10.6 months. For the 2025-26 return, if your work use is incidental and your claim is $50 or less, you do not need to keep records, but you do need to be able to show how you worked out the claim.
Marketing equipment such as a camera for property photos is claimable for the work-related portion, and so are business cards, diaries and other stationery. Equipment 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 group of identical items costing more than $300. Above $300, you claim the decline in value over its effective life. In the ATO's example, Jessica also uses her $400 camera for family photos, so she claims the work share of its decline in value.
If you are thinking of salary packaging a laptop or phone, the FBT exemption for packaged work devices ends on 1 April 2027.
Working from home is deductible when it adds to your running costs. The fixed rate method is 70 cents per work hour for the 2024-25 and 2025-26 income years. It covers energy, phone, internet, stationery and computer consumables, so you cannot claim those separately as well. You need a record of the actual hours you work from home, such as a timesheet or diary, because an estimate is not accepted, and at least one bill or receipt for each type of expense the rate covers. The actual cost method works out the real extra cost of each expense and needs more records.
Working in the lounge room while the family watches television adds no extra cost, so there is nothing to claim. That is the ATO's Rob example. You cannot claim tea, coffee or milk, or a home office set-up your employer paid for. As an employee you generally cannot claim rent, mortgage interest, rates or house insurance.
If you are paid by commission only, you can claim wages you pay someone for services and assistance that relate directly to your work. In the ATO's example, Claire pays a casual assistant at the award rate to help at open homes, her sales go up, and she can claim the wages.
Paying a relative has a limit. You can only claim a market rate, for work connected to your job. In the ATO's example, Verity pays her son $50 an hour to deliver advertising leaflets when the market rate is $21, so she can only claim $21 an hour. Pawel pays his son $100 a week to answer the home phone and cannot claim any of it.
For the 2025-26 return you are lodging now: receipts for everything you claim, a logbook or kilometre records for car claims, your phone bills and a record of your work use, a record of your hours if you work from home, and your income statement. Two shortcuts still apply this year. If your total work-related expenses, other than car, travel and overtime meal allowance claims, are $300 or less, you can claim them without receipts. If your laundry claim is $150 or less, you do not need written evidence of it. In both cases you still have to be able to show 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 for every work-related expense you claim.
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 the drive to an open home?
Yes, if you drive to it from home or from the office, because the property is an alternative workplace. The drive between home and your office is private, however early you start or late you finish.
Can I claim advertising, flowers and gifts for clients?
Only if you paid for them yourself and are entitled to earn commission. For gifts, an entitlement to a retainer also counts. On a fixed salary with no entitlement to commission, you cannot claim them. Gifts that are entertainment, such as footy tickets, are never deductible.
Can I claim my suit?
Usually not. Business attire is conventional clothing, even if your agency requires it. The exception is a suit that is a registered non-compulsory uniform, which you can claim along with the cost of maintaining it.
Can I claim income protection insurance?
Yes, if the policy protects your salary and wages and you pay the premiums outside super. Premiums deducted from your contributions through your super fund cannot be claimed. If the policy includes other cover, only the income protection part counts. Life, trauma and critical care premiums are never deductible. From 2026-27, you claim income protection on top of the standard deduction.
I contract through an ABN. Does this page apply to me?
Not fully, because it is written for employees. Having an ABN, or a contract that calls you a contractor, does not by itself make you one. If you are a contractor, the personal services income rules may limit what you can claim, and the standard deduction does not apply if business income is your only income. We work through this in a business consultation, and the first conversation for a new business is free.
How does the $1,000 standard deduction work for real estate agents?
From the 2026-27 return, you get up to $1,000 automatically, with no receipts needed. Any work expenses you claim, such as car, phone and advertising costs, 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 association fees go on top either way.
Do you work with real estate agents 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.
We have covered real estate agents' tax in two episodes of the Aevum Accounting Podcast. Selling the Dream, Claiming the Reality: Tax Guide for Real Estate Pros (episode 26) covers the everyday claims, and Sold! The Real Estate Agent's Playbook Part 2 (episode 49) deals with the advanced deductions and the myths. Each has a written companion: The Real Estate Agent's Tax Toolkit and Sold! The Real Estate Agent's Playbook Part 2.
If you contract through an ABN, listen to The Consultant's Tax Trap: PSI and the ATO Traffic Light System (episode 42). For the new standard deduction, listen to The Thousand Dollar Deduction (episode 54).
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 office workers and public servants and engineers.