Tax deductions for truck drivers (2025-26)

If you drive a large, heavy vehicle to transport goods as an employee, the work-related expenses you can claim depend on the kind of run you do: local, short-haul or long-haul. The big difference for drivers is overnight travel: long-haul drivers who take a mandatory rest break and sleep away from home can claim meals, accommodation and incidentals, while a local driver who buys lunch on a normal shift cannot. Whatever you claim, the same three golden rules apply: you must have spent the money yourself and not been reimbursed, the expense must directly relate to earning your income, and you must have a record.

Before you claim: this is general information based on the ATO’s occupation guidance for 2025–26 returns — not tax advice. A deduction stands or falls on your circumstances and your records. A registered tax agent can advise on your situation.

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What truck drivers can claim

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• Overnight travel expenses (meals, accommodation, incidentals) — Claimable when your work requires you to travel, take a mandatory long rest break and sleep away from home overnight. Covers accommodation, meals and incidentals. You can't claim if you sleep in your truck, your employer provides the accommodation, or you're reimbursed. Receiving a travel allowance doesn't automatically make it deductible.
• Overtime meal expenses — Claimable for a meal you buy and eat while working overtime, but only if you receive an overtime meal allowance under an industrial law, award or agreement and include that allowance as income. You claim what you actually spent, not the allowance amount.
• Work-related car expenses (your own car between separate work locations) — Claimable using the logbook or cents-per-kilometre method (88c per km for 2025-26, max 5,000 km) for trips like driving directly between two employers' depots on the same day, between depots for the same employer, or from home to an alternative depot. Normal home-to-work trips are not claimable.
• Other work-related vehicle expenses (utes/large vehicles) — For a vehicle with a carrying capacity of one tonne or more, you claim actual expenses (fuel, oil, insurance, interest, decline in value) for work-related use, with receipts and records of work use. The cents-per-km and logbook methods don't apply to these vehicles.
• Protective clothing and footwear — Claimable for items with protective features worn to protect against specific work risks, such as steel-capped boots, hi-vis clothing or overalls that protect your conventional clothes. Compulsory uniforms branded with the employer's logo are also claimable; conventional clothing like jeans, drill shirts and running shoes is not.
• Laundry of eligible work clothing — Claimable for washing, drying and ironing protective clothing or compulsory/registered uniforms at $1 per load (work items only) or 50c per load (mixed with private items). Claims of $150 or less don't need receipts but you must still show how you worked it out.
• Tools and equipment — Claimable for tools and equipment used to perform your duties, for the work-related portion. Items costing $300 or less can be claimed in full in the year of purchase; items over $300 are claimed as decline in value over their effective life. Repairs to work tools are also deductible.
• Phone, data and internet (work-related portion) — Claimable for the work-related share of your own phone and internet. Up to $50 total needs no records; above $50 you need written evidence and a record of work use (such as an itemised bill). Personal calls (including to family while travelling) aren't deductible.
• Self-education and study expenses — Claimable when the course directly relates to your current truck-driving job and maintains or improves your skills, or is likely to increase your income (for example, a heavy-vehicle defensive driving course). Courses to get a new job or change occupation aren't deductible, and HECS-HELP/study loan repayments aren't claimable.
• Union and professional association fees — Claimable in full. You can use your income statement or payment summary as evidence if the amount is shown there.
• Sunglasses, sunhats and sunscreen — Claimable for the work-related use if you must work in the sun for extended periods and use them to protect against a real and likely risk of illness or injury. Includes prescription sunglasses and anti-glare glasses; apportion for any private use.
• Working-from-home running expenses — Claimable only where you actually do work-related tasks from home (for example, study or admin). You can use the fixed rate of 70c per hour for 2025-26 or the actual-cost method. Occupancy expenses like rent or mortgage interest are not claimable.

The driver-specific claims

• The overnight-rest-break test drives almost everything — Meals, accommodation, showers, sleeping bags and pillows are only deductible when you take a mandatory long rest break (7+ continuous hours) and sleep away from home. A local or short-haul driver who returns home to sleep generally can't claim these, even on a long shift.
• Truck-driver-specific reasonable meal amounts — For 2025-26, TD 2025/4 sets separate reasonable amounts for employee truck drivers' meals while travelling: breakfast $31.15, lunch $35.55, dinner $61.30. These are per-meal, can't be aggregated into a daily figure, and can't be shifted between meals. You claim what you actually spent, not the reasonable amount.
• Showers, sleeping bags and pillows — Specifically listed as deductible for drivers who take a mandatory rest break and sleep away from home for work (apportioned for any private use of the sleeping bag and pillows).
• Working dog (livestock cartage) — If you cart cattle or livestock and must provide your own trained working dog, you can claim its running costs (food, vet bills) and decline in value, for the work-related portion. The purchase price is a capital expense and isn't deductible, and a dog kept only as a companion or guard dog doesn't qualify.
• Truck washing and work logbooks/diaries — You can claim the cost of washing your truck (unless reimbursed) and the cost of logbooks, diaries and pens used for work, such as a paper diary for recording routes and parcel receipts.
• Heavy-vehicle permits and special licence conditions — While getting or renewing your ordinary drivers licence isn't deductible, the additional cost of a special licence or condition needed for your duties, such as a heavy vehicle permit, is claimable (unless your employer pays or reimburses you).

Claims the ATO refuses

• Meals, snacks and drinks bought during a normal shift where you don't sleep away from home overnight, even if you receive a meal allowance
• Conventional clothing and footwear such as jeans, drill shirts, shorts, trousers, socks and ordinary closed/running shoes, even if your employer requires them
• Normal trips between home and your regular workplace or depot, even if you live far away or work early/weekend shifts
• Parking at or near your regular workplace, and tolls on the trip between home and your regular workplace
• Getting or renewing your ordinary drivers licence, even though it's a condition of employment
• Pre-employment medical assessments (for example, a fitness-to-drive certificate to get the job)
• Seat covers, music streaming, CDs, audio books and podcasts used in the truck, even if used to relieve fatigue
• Prescription glasses and contact lenses worn while working (these are private, unlike protective/anti-glare glasses)
• Fines and penalties, including parking, speeding and overloading fines
• Child care, school fees and your children's education costs
• Entertainment, fundraising and social functions, even if compulsory or work is discussed
• Removal and relocation costs to transfer or take up a new work location
• Any expense your employer paid for or reimbursed, and HECS-HELP/study loan repayments