The single biggest reason two people on the same income get back wildly different tax refunds is occupation. A nurse, a truck driver and a content creator each work under different rules about uniforms, travel, tools, self-education and the home office — and the ATO publishes occupation-specific guidance precisely because what is deductible for one job is flatly denied for another. Claim a deduction that belongs to a different occupation and you invite an amendment; miss one that genuinely applies to yours and you simply overpay.

This page from Trinity Accounting Practice is our occupation checklist library — a single starting point that links to a plain-English deduction guide for each of the jobs we are asked about most. Find your occupation below, work through its checklist, then read the general rules that apply to almost everyone before you lodge.

Why occupation-specific deductions matter

A work-related deduction has to clear three tests no matter what you do for a living: you spent the money yourself and were not reimbursed, the expense directly relates to earning your income, and you have a record to prove it. What changes from job to job is what counts as “directly related”. Compulsory occupation-specific uniforms are deductible; plain clothes are not, even if your employer insists on them. Travel between two workplaces is usually claimable; the commute from home is not. Tools, professional registration, union fees, self-education that maintains or improves the skills of your current role — each turns on the facts of your actual occupation. That is why a generic list is never enough, and why the checklists below are split by job.

Find your occupation checklist

Each link goes to a full Trinity guide for that occupation — what you can claim, what the ATO commonly disallows, and the records to keep.

Healthcare & care

Trades & transport

Creative, digital & sales

Education

Don’t see your occupation yet? The general rules below apply to every employee, and you are welcome to ask the Trinity team about your specific role.

The deductions almost every worker can claim

Whatever your job, this short checklist covers the categories that apply across most occupations:

  • Working from home. Either the fixed-rate method (a set cents-per-hour rate covering energy, phone, internet and stationery, with a record of hours worked) or the actual-cost method. You cannot use both for the same costs.
  • Phone and internet (work portion). Claim the business-use percentage, and keep a representative four-week record showing how you worked it out.
  • Self-education and professional development that maintains or improves the skills of your current role — courses, conferences, professional journals.
  • Union fees, professional memberships and registrations required for your work.
  • Tools, equipment and devices used for work — immediately if $300 or less, otherwise depreciated over their effective life.
  • Work-related car travel between jobs or to clients (not the home-to-work commute) — using the cents-per-kilometre or logbook method.
  • Occupation-specific clothing — compulsory uniforms, protective gear and the laundry of those items.

What you generally cannot claim

  • The normal commute between home and your regular workplace.
  • Plain or conventional clothing, even if your employer requires a particular look.
  • Anything you were reimbursed for by your employer.
  • Private-use portions of phones, internet, cars and devices.
  • Self-education for a different career you are hoping to move into.

Get your records right before you claim

Every deduction on this page depends on substantiation. As a rule you need written evidence for total work claims over $300, a logbook or kilometre diary for car claims, and a record of hours for working-from-home. Keep these for the required period — for most taxpayers that means holding records for five years from lodgement (see our guide to the records you must keep). If you are also approaching 30 June, our end of financial year checklist walks through what to gather.

A Trinity insight from 22 years in practice

The occupation deductions people miss are almost never the big, obvious ones — they are the small recurring costs that feel too minor to bother with. A nurse’s annual AHPRA registration. A tradie’s $40 of consumables a fortnight. A content creator’s monthly editing subscription. Individually they look trivial; across a full year, and especially across the right occupation, they routinely add several hundred dollars to a refund. The clients who get the most back are not the ones with the cleverest claims — they are the ones who kept a tidy record all year and matched it to the rules for the job they actually do.

What this means for you

  • Start with your occupation checklist above — the deductions that apply to your job are different from your colleague’s in another field.
  • Layer the general categories (home office, phone, self-education) on top of the occupation-specific ones.
  • Apportion private use and keep the working behind every percentage.
  • Hold your records for five years — no record generally means no deduction if the ATO asks.
  • If your role is more complex — multiple income sources, an ABN on the side, or a salary-packaged car — get it reviewed before lodging.

How Trinity can help

Trinity Accounting Practice prepares individual tax returns for workers across Sydney from our Beverly Hills office. As a registered tax agent, we match your claims to the ATO’s current occupation guidance, make sure nothing deductible is left on the table, and keep your return defensible if it is ever reviewed. Whether you are a nurse, a tradie, a teacher or a creator, we will get your occupation’s deductions right.

Book a tax return appointment with the Trinity team →

General advice only. This article contains general information current as at June 2026 and does not constitute tax, financial or legal advice. It does not take into account your personal circumstances, objectives or needs. Before acting on any information in this article, you should consider its appropriateness to your situation and seek professional advice from Trinity Accounting Practice or another qualified adviser. Liability limited by a scheme approved under Professional Standards Legislation.


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