Tax deductions for train drivers
For train drivers, the rules on food and travel come down to your roster. Drive a passenger train to another city and back in a day, and the food you buy is private. Hand the train over at the far end and take a mandatory long rest break away from home, and the meals you pay for there can be claimed.
This page sets out what you can and cannot claim as a local, short-haul or long-haul train driver in Australia, on passenger or freight services, 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 train drivers who are employees.
Aevum Accounting is a CPA practice and registered tax agent in Balcatta, Perth, working with train drivers 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 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
Meals you pay for on a long-haul shift, when you take a mandatory long rest break away from home.
A room on those shifts, if you pay for it. Not if your employer provides it.
Overtime meals, but only with an overtime meal allowance under an award or agreement.
A compulsory uniform with your employer's logo, if you paid for it, and washing it, even if your employer supplied it.
Steel-capped boots and other protective clothing you buy yourself.
Sunglasses, including prescription sunglasses, for the work-related use.
Renewing your train drivers licence while you are working as a train driver.
Assessments your employer requires in your current job, such as a fitness to drive assessment.
Driving between depots or stations on the same day, or to another station to cover for a sick driver.
Parking and tolls on work trips, and a taxi back to the depot when you reach your maximum driving hours.
The work share of your phone, data and internet.
Tools and protective equipment such as ear plugs, for the work share.
A first aid course, if you are a designated first aid person and pay for it yourself.
Union fees, and training that directly relates to your work as a train driver.
Not deductible, however it feels
The drive from home to your regular depot or station, even for early starts or a long commute.
Food and drink on a normal shift, even with a meal allowance.
Meals on a run where you get home the same day, unless they are overtime meals.
Your car drivers licence, including the renewal.
The initial cost of getting your train drivers licence.
A pre-employment medical.
Jeans, plain polo shirts, black pants and sneakers, even if your employer requires them.
Prescription glasses and contact lenses, other than prescription sunglasses.
A watch, even if you use it to keep your train on time.
Music streaming, audiobooks and podcasts, even if they help with fatigue.
Travel mugs, lunch boxes, coolers and seat covers.
Flu shots and vaccinations, even if you need them for work, and gym fees.
Fines, including a speeding fine you get on duty.
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.
For train drivers, it depends on your roster. A long-haul driver buying meals on rest breaks can pass $1,000, while a metro driver whose uniform is supplied may not. Keep your receipts until you know which side of the line you are on.
You can claim travel expenses when your work requires you to travel and sleep away from home overnight. For train drivers, that means your shift requires you to take your mandatory long rest break away from home.
Travel expenses cover your accommodation, meals and the smaller costs of the trip, which the ATO calls incidentals. You cannot claim a room or meals your employer provides, costs your employer pays you back for, or a night near work that you chose instead of going home.
In the ATO's example, Joe takes his rest break at company-paid accommodation and buys his own dinner and breakfast. He cannot claim the room, but he can claim the meals, because he had to sleep away from home for work. With no travel allowance, he needs receipts for them.
On a same-day run, your food is private. In the ATO's example, Matthew drives a passenger train from Sydney to Canberra and back the same day, so he cannot claim his food and drink. You can only claim one of each meal type in a 24-hour period, so not two dinners in one day.
A travel allowance does not give you a deduction by itself. You claim what you actually spent. If the allowance is on your income statement, you declare it as income. If it is not on your income statement, does not exceed the ATO's reasonable amount, and you spent all of it on deductible travel costs, you can leave it out, but then you cannot claim those costs. That is what Juan does in the ATO's example, with $50 a night for food and drink on a four-night trip.
Train drivers use the ATO's general reasonable amounts, which depend on your salary and where you stay, not the separate meal amounts for truck drivers. If you receive a travel allowance and your claim is within the reasonable amount, you do not need receipts, but you must still be able to show you spent the money, for example with your work diary, proof you declared the allowance, and bank statements. Claim more and you need receipts for all your expenses, 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.
Food and drink in 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, Isiah gets a $20 award allowance on 20 overtime shifts and generally spends $15 on his meal, so he declares $400 and claims $300.
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.
An allowance for the conditions of the job, such as a dirty work or on-call allowance, is income with nothing to claim against it. Other allowances only come with a deduction if you spend money on something deductible. In the ATO's example, Jasmine declares her $350 tool allowance and claims the $174 she spends on a hammer and a spanner set she only uses for work. A relocation allowance to move depots is income too, and the moving costs are private.
The trip between home and your regular depot or station is private, even if you live a long way away or work weekend or early morning shifts. There are narrow exceptions, such as carrying tools that are essential and bulky when there is no secure storage at work. In the ATO's example, William carries a duffel bag with a change of clothes, sneakers, his lunch and a drink bottle, but none of it is essential for his work or bulky, so his drive is still private.
You can claim driving directly between two jobs on the same day, between depots or stations for the same employer, and from home straight to an alternative workplace, such as a training course. In the ATO's example, Darren is sent from his normal station to cover for a sick driver at another, and can claim that trip and the trip home. In another, Troy can claim the toll he pays driving 20 kilometres out from the depot to take over a train from a driver starting a mandatory long rest break.
A taxi, ride-share or public transport fare is deductible if you travel to the depot or station because you have reached your maximum driving hours, or from the depot to wherever your employer requires you to start work, unless you are paid back.
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 not deductible. Fines never are, including a speeding fine you get while on duty.
If you work a fly-in fly-out roster, which the ATO's train driver guide does not cover, our FIFO and mining guide sets out the FIFO travel rules.
Everyday clothes such as jeans, polo shirts and sneakers are private, even if your employer requires them and you only wear them at work. A claim has to be for protective clothing, occupation-specific clothing, a compulsory uniform, or a non-compulsory uniform registered on the Register of Approved Occupational Clothing, and only if you paid for it.
In the ATO's examples, Mikaela can claim the compulsory polo shirts with her employer's logo that she has to buy, but not the black pants or skirt and black shoes that go with them, because they are conventional clothes. Trung, who delivers coal to mine sites, can claim the $150 steel-capped boots he buys, but not the hi-vis vest his employer supplies.
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, Kelly's employer supplies her compulsory uniform. She washes it separately twice a week for the 40 weeks she works, so she claims $80.
Glasses you wear to reduce a real and likely risk of illness or injury at work, such as sunglasses and anti-glare glasses, are claimable for their work use. In the ATO's example, Harold, a long-haul driver, can claim prescription sunglasses that counter the glare when he drives by day, but not the untinted prescription glasses he wears at night. If you also wear sunglasses privately, claim the work share only. Sunhats and sunscreen are claimable on the same basis, if you must work outdoors in the sun for prolonged periods.
Your car drivers licence is private, even the renewal, and even if your employer requires it.
Your train drivers licence has its own rule. You cannot claim the initial cost of getting it, but the ATO says you can claim the cost to renew it while you are working, unless your employer pays. The same goes for any licence, permit, card or certificate: getting one to get a job is private, while getting or renewing one to keep doing your job is deductible. If you are not sure which side of the line a cost falls, talk to us before you claim it.
Assessments and medicals your employer requires in your current job, such as a fitness to drive assessment, are deductible. A pre-employment medical is not. In the ATO's example, Ros cannot claim the $125 medical she needed to take up a train driver job offer in regional NSW. Flu shots and other vaccinations are private, even if your employer requires them, and so are gym fees, even if you have to pass medical assessments to keep your job.
A first aid course is deductible if you are a designated first aid person who needs the training for emergencies at work, and you pay for it yourself. In the ATO's example, Zac cannot claim his course because his employer pays for it, but he could if he paid for it himself and was not paid back.
Phone, data and internet costs are deductible for the work-related use of your own phone or devices. Calls to family and friends are private, even when you are away for work. In the ATO's example, Violet works out from an itemised bill that 20% of her calls over four weeks were for work, so she claims 20% of her $49 monthly plan for the 10.6 months she worked, $103.88. Keep your bills and a record of how you worked out your work use.
Tools and equipment you use for your duties, including protective equipment such as ear plugs, are deductible for the work share: outright if one costs $300 or less, you use it mainly for work, and it is not part of a set or group of identical items costing more than $300, and otherwise over its effective life. In the ATO's example, Alison uses a $100 spanner set at work five days out of seven and on her car at weekends, so she claims $71. Repairs to work tools are deductible too. Tools your employer supplies are not.
Lunch boxes, travel mugs and coolers are private, even on an overnight shift, and so are seat covers, music streaming, audiobooks and podcasts, even if they help with fatigue. A watch is private too, even if you use it to keep your train on time.
Union fees are deductible.
Training is deductible if it directly relates to your work as a train driver and maintains or improves the skills you need for your current duties, or is likely to increase your income from your current job. In the ATO's example, Frances travels from Lismore to Sydney for a two-day course on shunting, coupling and uncoupling, and claims the course, her travel, meals, incidentals and accommodation. John, studying business administration to start his own transport business, cannot claim his course. HECS-HELP fees and study loan repayments are not deductible.
Child care, school costs and work social functions are private, and so are newspapers and magazines not specific to your duties.
For the 2025-26 return you are lodging now: receipts for everything you claim, except where the allowance rules above say otherwise, your income statement, kilometre records or a logbook for car claims, and, for shifts away from home, 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 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 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 at the ATO's per-load rates, its current guidance is to keep a record of how many loads you washed, whether each was work-only or mixed, and evidence that you paid for it.
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 meals on a long-haul shift?
Yes, if your shift requires you to take a mandatory long rest break and sleep away from home, and you pay for the meals yourself, up to one of each meal type in a 24-hour period. Meals on a run where you get home the same day are private. With no travel allowance, you need receipts.
Can I claim my train drivers licence?
Not the initial cost of getting it. The ATO says you can claim the cost to renew it while you are working as a train driver, unless your employer pays for it or pays you back. Your car drivers licence is private, even the renewal.
Can I claim the drive to the depot?
Usually not. Home to your regular depot or station is private, even with early starts or a long drive. You can claim driving between depots or stations on the same day, from your normal station to another one to cover a shift and then home, and from home straight to a training course.
Can I claim my sunglasses?
Yes, if they protect your eyes from the sun's glare while you are driving, including prescription sunglasses. If you also wear them privately, claim the work share only. Ordinary prescription glasses and contact lenses are private, even if you need them to drive.
How does the $1,000 standard deduction work for train drivers?
From the 2026-27 return, you get up to $1,000 automatically, with no receipts needed. Any work expenses you claim reduce it, including travel allowance expenses, so it helps most when yours are under $1,000. If they are over, claim them as normal and keep records for every dollar. Your union fees go on top either way.
Do you work with train drivers 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 train drivers, 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 truck drivers, bus drivers and FIFO and mining workers.