Aged care worker tax deductions

What can aged care workers claim on tax?

Aged care workers can claim work expenses they pay for themselves that relate directly to their job. Common examples are compulsory uniforms, protective items, union fees, training for their current role, the work share of their phone, and car travel between clients. Travel to your usual facility, plain work clothes and vaccinations are private.

The ATO has two occupation guides that apply in aged care. Registered and enrolled nurses use the nurses and midwives guide. AINs, personal care workers and home care workers are covered by the community support workers and direct carers guide. The ATO describes a direct carer as an employee who gives hands-on care to people who are elderly, ill or disabled, at home or in community settings. The rules in both guides are almost identical. Every claim still needs the three golden rules: you paid and weren't reimbursed, it relates directly to earning your income, and you have a record.

• Nurse tax deductions 2025–26: the full guide

Uniforms, protective items and equipment

A compulsory uniform that identifies your employer is claimable. For example, a polo shirt with the provider's logo that you must wear. The black pants and closed black shoes that often go with it are not. The ATO uses an aged care nurse and a home care worker as its examples and treats plain black pants and shoes as conventional clothing, even when the uniform policy requires them.

Protective clothing, such as non-slip shoes or a smock that protects your clothes, is claimable. So are protective items you buy yourself, such as gloves, masks and sanitiser, if you use them to protect against a real risk of illness or injury at work. You can't claim items your employer supplies or reimburses. Washing eligible uniforms can be claimed at $1 per load of only work clothing, or 50 cents per load if mixed with personal items.

Equipment you buy for work is also claimable. The ATO's example is a home care worker who buys a $189 stand-assist aid she takes from client to client. It cost $300 or less and her employer didn't reimburse her, so she can claim the full cost in the year she buys it.

• Can nurses claim shoes on tax?

First aid certificates, police checks and registrations

First aid has its own test. The ATO lets you claim a first aid course only if you are a designated first aid person who needs the training to help in emergencies at work, and your employer doesn't pay or reimburse it. A first aid certificate you hold simply because it is a general job requirement doesn't automatically pass that test.

For licences, registrations and accreditations, the ATO's general rule is that renewing one you need to keep working in your current job is deductible. The first-time cost of getting one before you can be employed is not. That is why an aged care nurse can claim an AHPRA renewal but not their first registration. The ATO's occupation guides don't specifically mention police checks. A police check renewal your current employer requires would generally follow the same reasoning, while a check you pay for to get a new job generally would not. Keep your employer's request with the receipt, and ask us if your situation is unclear.

A driver's licence is private, even if the job requires one. The ATO's aged care example does allow the renewal of a heavy vehicle permit needed to drive residents on outings.

Home care travel: between clients and from home

Travel between home and your regular workplace is private. For most residential aged care staff, that means the trip to and from the facility can't be claimed, even for early, late or weekend shifts. Home care is different, and the ATO guide allows these trips:

• Driving from one client's home to the next on the same day.
• Driving from home to a client's home, or from the office to a client, when the client's home is an alternative workplace rather than your regular one.
• All trips, including home to your first client and your last client to home, if you have shifting places of work: no fixed workplace and a web of client homes you travel between each day. The ATO's example is a community support worker who does this and can claim travel between home, clients and the office.
• Driving a client to the shops or an appointment as part of your duties, and parking you pay on that trip.

Car records for home care travel

Whether home-to-first-client travel counts depends on your actual pattern of work, so keep a trip log with dates, addresses, kilometres and purpose. If your employer pays a car or kilometre allowance, include it as income. You then claim your actual work kilometres, not the allowance amount. If your car is on a novated lease, you can't claim car expenses for it.

Phone, union fees and training

If you use your own phone to contact clients, your coordinator or rostering apps, you can claim the work share. The ATO's disability support worker example highlights four weeks of work calls on an itemised bill and applies that percentage to the plan. If your work use is incidental and you claim $50 or less, you don't need records. You can't claim if your employer provides the phone or reimburses you.

Union and professional association fees are deductible, and your income statement can be your evidence if they come out of your pay.

Training that maintains or improves skills for your current role is deductible. The ATO's example is a support worker doing a Certificate IV in Individual Support. So is a conference such as a dementia care conference, including accommodation and meals if you must stay overnight. Study for a new career is not. The ATO's examples are a care assistant studying a Bachelor of Nursing and a personal carer in a nursing home doing the same degree. Neither can claim it, because the course leads to a different job.

• CPD and training deductions for nurses

Records to keep

If your total work-related claims are more than $300, you need written evidence for all of them. Either way, you must be able to show how you worked out each amount. Keep records for five years from when you lodge.

• Receipts for uniforms, protective shoes, PPE and equipment, with your employer's uniform policy.
• Your AHPRA renewal invoice (nurses), and receipts and employer requests for checks and certificates.
• A trip log for home care travel, and payslips showing any car or kilometre allowance.
• A four-week phone usage record or highlighted itemised bill.
• Course receipts, enrolment details and certificates, plus union statements.
• A laundry calculation showing loads per week, weeks worked and the rate used.

What you can't claim, and common mistakes

• Plain black pants, shoes or other conventional clothing, even if your employer requires them.
• Flu and other vaccinations. The ATO says these are private even when your employer requires them.
• Travel between home and the residential facility where you usually work.
• Coffee or food you buy while out with a client, and meals during normal shifts. Overtime meals are claimable only if you receive an overtime meal allowance under an award or agreement.
• Expenses during a sleepover shift. The ATO treats a sleepover allowance as compensation, not a payment for expenses.
• An on-call allowance as a deduction. It is income, and the ATO's aged care example confirms nothing is deductible just because you are on call.
• The first-time cost of a certificate, check or registration needed to get the job.

Common questions

Which ATO guide should an assistant in nursing use?

An AIN or personal care worker is generally covered by the ATO community support workers and direct carers guide. A registered or enrolled nurse in aged care uses the nurses and midwives guide. The deduction rules in both are very similar.

Can I claim the gloves and masks I buy for home care visits?

Yes, if you paid for them yourself, use them to protect against a real risk of illness or injury at work, and your employer didn't supply or reimburse them.

I work in aged care and study nursing. Can I claim my uni fees?

Generally not. The ATO says study that leads to a new role, such as moving from personal care to registered nursing, isn't connected closely enough to your current duties.

Do I declare a car allowance from my home care employer?

Yes. Include it as income, then claim your actual work-related car expenses using a trip record. The deduction is worked out from your kilometres, not from the allowance amount.