Clothing Tax Deductions

Compulsory work uniform

A compulsory uniform is a set of clothing that identifies you as an employee of an organisation. Your employer must make it compulsory to wear the uniform through a strictly enforced workplace agreement or policy.

A compulsory uniform must either:

• be distinctive to your particular organisation, so that a casual observer can clearly identify you as working for a particular employer
• identify the products or services provided by your employer.

In limited circumstances, you can claim a deduction for shoes, socks and stockings if:

• they are an essential part of a distinctive compulsory uniform
• the characteristics (colour, style and type) are an integral and distinctive part of your uniform that your employer specifies in the uniform policy.

You can claim for a single item of clothing, such as a jumper, if it’s distinctive and compulsory for you to wear it at work. Clothing is unique and distinctive if it:

• has been designed and made only for the employer
• has the employer’s logo permanently attached and is not available to the public.

Conventional or everyday clothing is not a compulsory uniform, even if your employer requires you to wear it, or you pin a name badge to it.

Occupation specific clothing

You can claim your costs to buy or clean occupation specific clothing that distinctly identifies you as a person associated with a particular occupation, such as:

• a chef’s chequered pants
• a judge’s robe.

You can’t claim for clothes you wear for work that are not specific to your occupation, may be worn in multiple professions or are everyday clothes. For example, you can’t claim for a:

• bartender’s black trousers and white shirt
• business suit
• swimming instructor’s swimwear.

Protective clothing

You can claim a deduction for purchasing and cleaning clothing and footwear you wear to protect you from the real and likely risk of illness or injury from your work activities or your work environment.

There has to be a link between your work related activities, the risk presented by your work environment and the form and function of the clothing to mitigate that risk.

To be considered protective, the items must have both:

• protective features or functions
• a sufficient degree of protection against the risk of illness and injury you are exposed to in carrying out your work.

Protective clothing includes:

• fire resistant clothing
• sun protection clothing with a UPF sun protection rating
• safety coloured vests
• non slip nurse’s shoes
• protective boots, such as steel-capped boots or rubber boots for concreters
• gloves and heavy duty shirts and trousers
• occupational heavy duty wet weather gear
• boiler suits, overalls, smocks or aprons you wear to avoid damaging or soiling your ordinary clothes during your work activities.

You can’t claim a deduction for conventional clothes that don’t have features for protection against the risks of illness or injury at your work. For example, you can’t claim for jeans, drill shirts, shorts, trousers, socks or everyday enclosed shoes.

Clothing that provides a sufficient degree of protection against the risk of illness or injury includes, but is not limited to, clothing that:

• is made to cope with more rigorous conditions, where conventional clothing would be inadequate
• is designed to protect you – for example heavy duty shirts and trousers, distinct from ordinary cotton drill trousers, shorts and short sleeve shirts that may be considered as work wear but do not adequately protect the wearer from the risk of injury or illness
• has a density of weave which gives a UV rating sufficient to protect you from the sun where your job requires you to work outdoors.