You spend your working life looking after other people, and a fair bit of what you spend to do the job comes out of your own pocket. At tax time a lot of that is claimable, and a lot of it quietly goes unclaimed, usually because remembering a whole year of shifts in one sitting is genuinely hard. This checklist takes that weight off: work through it before you lodge and you'll catch the deductions that are honestly yours. The rule behind every one of them is the same — if you paid for it, it helped you earn your nursing income, and you kept a record, you can claim it.
Before you start, gather these
A few minutes now saves the scramble later. Have these close by:
- Your income statement. Most employers finalise it in myGov by mid-July, so wait for the "Tax ready" status before you lodge.
- Any agency or second-job income. Each employer reports separately, so it's worth checking every one is showing up.
- Your receipts for the year. Uniform, equipment, registration, courses, and anything else you bought for work.
- Your car records. A logbook, or a tally of the work kilometres if you drive between workplaces.
- Your bank and card statements. The safety net for the direct debits that are easy to forget, like your registration and union fees.
The deduction checklist
Go through each line and tick the ones you paid for this year. Where you can, make sure you have the record to back it up — that's what turns a fair claim into a safe one.
Uniforms, clothing and laundry
Clothing is the area with the most catches, especially around shoes and the everyday scrubs you bought yourself. For the detail, see our guide on what nurses can claim for shoes, laundry and uniforms.
Equipment and tools
A fob watch, penlight or bandage scissors come off in full the year you buy them.
A good stethoscope, say, is claimed a little each year as it wears out, plus repairs and insurance on the equipment.
Registration, memberships and checks
Self-education and training
Phone, internet and home use
Car and travel
Overtime meals
What to leave off
A few costs feel work-related but are not deductible, and claiming them is where returns get flagged:
- The commute. Home to work and back stays private no matter the distance you drive or the hours your roster happens to land on.
- Everyday clothing and plain shoes, even if you only wear them on shift.
- Grooming. Haircuts and cosmetics, even where the workplace expects a certain look.
- First registration and your qualifying study. The cost of getting into nursing, not of doing it.
- Anything your employer reimbursed. If it was paid back to you, you can't claim it again.
Keep the records, or the claim falls over
Here is the part that quietly costs nurses the most: a deduction is only as good as the record behind it. Keep the receipt and a quick note of any work-and-home split, and a fair claim becomes a safe one.
A year pieced back together the night before you lodge is a year of quiet losses.
The knack is banking each cost the moment it lands. The ATO's free myDeductions tool covers the basics.
The bottom line
Run this checklist once before you lodge and the deductions that usually slip through — the registration on direct debit, the fob watch, the laundry, the CPD — land back where they belong: on your return. Claim what you paid for and can show, leave the private costs off, and your bill settles on your real income once the genuine work costs are stripped out. You earned every bit of it; this is just making sure you keep your share.
Add up the deductions on your checklist and see what they come to.
General information only, not tax advice. Check the ATO or a registered tax agent for your situation.