Tax Deductions for Nurses

29 May

Tax Deductions for Nurses in Australia: The 2025–26 Guide

If you're a nurse, midwife or AIN, your tax return has the potential to put serious cash back in your pocket — but only if you actually claim everything you're entitled to. The ATO has specific rules for healthcare workers, and they're easy to get wrong in either direction (under-claiming and missing out, or over-claiming and getting flagged for an audit).

This guide walks through every deduction Australian nurses can legitimately claim in the 2025–26 financial year, with the ATO rules behind each one, the records you need, and the traps to avoid.

Quick disclaimer up front: this is general info, not personal advice. Your situation might have wrinkles. If you want it done properly without spending your day off reading ATO rulings, that's literally what we do — there's a link at the bottom.

The headline numbers

A few key 2025–26 figures to anchor the rest of this guide:

Cents per kilometre rate: 88c/km (max 5,000 work km per car per year — capped at $4,400)
Working from home fixed rate: 70c per hour
The $300 rule: if your total work-related expense claims (excluding car, travel, and certain others) come to under $300, you don't need receipts. Over $300, you need written evidence for everything.
AHPRA registration renewal: due by 31 May each year (yes, fully deductible)

1. Uniforms, protective clothing and laundry

This is one of the biggest sources of nurse tax mistakes — both directions.

You CAN claim:

Your compulsory uniform — that is, a uniform with your employer's logo or one that's required and enforced under a workplace agreement. Includes scrubs supplied with a hospital logo, branded polo shirts, etc.
Non-slip nursing shoes if they're part of the compulsory uniform.
Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) — gloves, masks, goggles, gowns, face shields. If your employer doesn't supply them and you buy your own, claim away.
Laundry of compulsory uniform — $1 per load if washed with other clothes, $0.50 if uniforms only. You can claim up to $150 in laundry without receipts.
Dry cleaning of work clothing (with receipts).
Repairs and alterations to your uniform.

You CAN'T claim:

Plain-coloured scrubs you bought yourself with no employer logo or compulsory requirement (yes, even if you only wear them at work).
Regular black pants, white shirts, or "smart casual" clothes — even if your employer requires you to wear them.
Underwear, socks (other than compression stockings — see below), or grooming items like haircuts and makeup.

Special case — compression stockings: If you're required to wear compression stockings due to long shifts on your feet and they're part of your compulsory uniform, you can claim them. Check your enterprise agreement.

ATO source: Nurses and midwives — income and work-related deductions

2. Professional fees and registrations

These are the easiest, biggest deductions that nurses sometimes forget.

AHPRA / NMBA annual registration fee — fully deductible. Renews 31 May each year.
Union fees — ANMF, QNMU, NSWNMA, ANF: all fully deductible.
Professional indemnity insurance — if you pay it personally (not through your employer), it's deductible.
Professional association memberships — Australian College of Nursing (ACN), Australian College of Midwives (ACM), specialty colleges (anaesthetic nurses, ICU nurses, etc.).
Working with Children Check and police check renewals required for your role.

Records needed: receipt or bank statement showing the payment. Most professional bodies email a tax-time receipt automatically — check your inbox in July.

3. Tools and equipment

If you bought it for work, you can usually claim it.

Common claimable items:

Stethoscope
Nurses' fob watch
Penlight / pupil torch
Bandage scissors
Trauma shears
Tourniquet
Sphygmomanometer (BP cuff)
Reflex hammer
Pulse oximeter (if you bought your own)
Nursing bag

The under-$300 rule: if a single item costs $300 or less, you can claim the full amount in the year you bought it. Over $300, you need to depreciate it over its effective life (the ATO has rates for this — for most nursing tools, that's 3–5 years).

Set of items rule: if you buy a "set" of items together (e.g., a stethoscope, BP cuff and scissors as a bundle for $450), the ATO treats it as one item and you can't split it.

4. Self-education and professional development

This is where bigger refunds happen — and where nurses also lose them.

You CAN claim:

Courses that maintain or improve the skills you currently use: think CPD, postgraduate study in your current speciality (e.g., a paeds nurse doing a paediatric nursing grad cert), short courses, conferences, workshops.
Course fees (excluding HECS/HELP — which is paid out of post-tax income and not separately claimable).
Textbooks and journal subscriptions — including online ones.
Conference attendance — registration, accommodation, meals (per ATO reasonable amounts), and travel.
Stationery, printing, photocopying for courses.
Internet and phone — work-related portion (see section 6).
Depreciation on devices — laptop, iPad, phone — used for study.

You CAN'T claim:

Study to get into a new career — e.g., if you're an enrolled nurse and you study to become a doctor, that's not claimable. The course needs to relate to your current role.
HECS/HELP loan repayments (paid post-tax automatically).
Any portion paid by your employer or via a scholarship.

Pro tip: if you're studying part-time while working full-time as a nurse, your travel from work directly to uni (and back to work) is also claimable.

5. Car and travel expenses

This trips up more nurses than anything else. Let's make it simple.

Travel you CAN'T claim:

Home to work and back. Even if you're on call. Even if there's no public transport. Even if you do split shifts. Standard commuting is never deductible.

Travel you CAN claim:

Between two work sites on the same day (e.g., from the hospital to a community visit, or between two casual jobs).
Between work and a study venue (where the study is deductible — see section 4).
To and from a conference or training event.
Carrying bulky equipment if your employer doesn't provide secure storage at work and you genuinely need to take it home.
Travel between client visits for community/agency nurses.

Two methods:

Cents per km method — 88c per km in 2025–26, max 5,000 work km per car per year. No receipts needed but you do need to show how you calculated it (e.g., a diary). Max claim: $4,400.
Logbook method — track 12 weeks of travel, work out your business-use percentage, then claim that percentage of your actual car costs (fuel, rego, insurance, servicing, depreciation). More work, often a bigger deduction if you have a high work-use percentage.

If you're using your car a lot for work, do the logbook. The 12-week period stays valid for 5 years.

6. Phone, internet and home office

Nurses who do rosters, training, or admin from home — this section is for you.

Phone and internet:

Work out the work-use percentage over a 4-week representative period.
Apply that percentage to your annual bill.
Example: if 25% of your phone use is work-related and your annual bill is $1,200, you claim $300.

Working from home — fixed rate method (the easy way):

70c per hour for every hour you work from home.
Covers electricity, gas, internet, phone, computer consumables, stationery.
You can still claim depreciation of work-related furniture and equipment separately.
You need a record of the actual hours you worked from home — a timesheet, diary, or roster will do.

Working from home — actual cost method:

Calculate actual costs of everything (electricity, internet, depreciation, etc.).
More work but can be a bigger claim if you work from home a lot.
Almost never worth it for nurses unless you've got a dedicated home office and significant hours.

7. Other commonly missed deductions

Sun protection — sunscreen, hats, sunglasses, lip balm with SPF — only if you work outdoors (community nursing, school nursing, sports event medical, etc.).
First aid courses — if you're the designated first aid officer at work.
COVID-19 RAT tests — if used to attend work, deductible (keep receipts).
Reference books and journals — nursing texts, drug handbooks, medical reference apps.
Income protection insurance — yes, deductible (life insurance and trauma cover are not).
Tax agent fees — last year's tax agent fee is deductible this year. (Yes, our fee is deductible.)
Donations — to deductible gift recipient (DGR) charities, $2 minimum, with receipt.

Records you need

The ATO is increasingly data-driven and matches receipts against bank records. The days of "she'll be right" are over. Here's the bare minimum:

Under $300 total work-related claims: no written evidence required, but you still need to be able to explain how you calculated it.
Over $300: receipts for everything (paper or digital).
Car logbook: 12 weeks of records, valid for 5 years.
Home office: record of hours worked from home.
Self-education: receipts for fees, books, and travel.

Best practice: the ATO's free myDeductions app lets you photograph receipts on the spot. Five seconds at the chemist counter beats panic-searching shoeboxes in October.

Common ATO red flags for nurses

The ATO publishes its priority targets each year, and healthcare workers consistently feature. The big ones:

Claiming uniforms with no employer logo and no enforced compulsory requirement. This is the #1 audit trigger.
Claiming home-to-work car travel. Just don't.
Self-education claims that don't relate to current role. Studying to become a doctor while working as an EN — not claimable.
Phone and internet claims of "100% work use". Vanishingly unlikely. The ATO knows.
Conference attendance with extended personal travel. You can claim the conference portion only — not the week of holidays you tacked on.
"Round numbers" with no records. A $1,500 claim with no receipts and the suspiciously round number gets attention.

If you can back it up with records and the deduction has a genuine work connection, you're fine. If you're guessing or ballparking, you're rolling the dice.

FAQ — the questions every nurse asks

Can I claim my haircut, makeup or beauty treatments?

No. The ATO is very clear: grooming costs are private, even if you're expected to look presentable at work.

Can I claim my gym membership to stay fit for nursing?

No. Even though physical fitness might help you on the job, gym is considered private. The only exception is for some defence force and police roles — not nurses.

Can I claim COVID vaccines or flu shots?

No. Vaccines (even if "required" by your employer) are considered medical expenses, not work-related deductions. Sometimes employers pay for them — in which case you don't have an out-of-pocket expense anyway.

What about meals during long shifts?

Generally no. Meals during your normal working hours are private. The exception is overtime meal allowances paid under an industrial agreement — those have specific rules.

I work agency / multiple jobs. What changes?

Each employer should give you a payment summary (income statement). Combine them on your return. Travel between jobs on the same day is deductible (using cents/km or logbook). The tax-free threshold can only be claimed at one employer — make sure your secondary employer is taxing you correctly to avoid a bill at year end.

I'm a casual / pool nurse — can I claim more?

Same rules apply. Casual nurses often have more deductions because they buy their own gear, travel between sites, and pay for their own training. Keep every receipt.

How long does the ATO take to refund me?

Usually 2 weeks if lodged through a tax agent and your record is clean. Up to 30 days if lodged through myTax. Faster than your last shift roster.

What if I missed claims from previous years?

You can amend tax returns for the past 2 years if you're an individual. If we find missed deductions when reviewing your file, we'll usually amend automatically.

Should I use myTax or a tax agent?

If your return is genuinely simple (one job, no deductions, no investments), myTax is fine. The moment you're working multiple jobs, claiming work expenses, studying, salary-packaging, or have any complexity at all, a registered tax agent pays for themselves multiple times over — and our fee is deductible.

Get your nurse tax return done properly

We're registered tax agents who specialise in healthcare workers. We know the deductions, the ATO red flags, and the salary packaging quirks for public hospital staff. Most nurse returns take us 30 minutes — fully online, no office visit, refund usually in your account within two weeks.

Book your nurse tax return now →

Or shoot us a question at tom@singlefinconsulting.com.au — we read everything.

Tom Daven