FIFO Tax Deductions Australia: What Workers Can and Can't Claim
A practical ATO-first guide to FIFO travel, PPE, tools, training, records and common tax-deduction myths for Australian workers.
FIFO work can create unusual expenses, but there is no automatic “FIFO deduction”. Whether you can claim an expense depends on what you paid, why you paid it, how it connects to your current employment and whether your employer paid you back.
This guide is general information for Australian employee FIFO workers. Tax outcomes depend on your employment and travel arrangements. Check the ATO guide for mining site employees or ask a registered tax agent about your circumstances.
Start with the ATO's three rules
Before sorting receipts into categories, test each expense against three basic rules:
- You spent the money yourself and your employer did not reimburse you.
- The expense directly relates to earning your employment income.
- You have records to show what you spent and how you calculated the work-related amount.
If an expense has both work and private use, claim only the work-related portion. An employer requirement can support the work connection, but it does not turn every required purchase into a deduction. The nature of the item still matters.
The quickest first question is: who ultimately paid? If your employer bought the item, paid the supplier, reimbursed you or credited the full cost back to you, you generally cannot claim that same amount yourself.
FIFO expenses: a quick decision table
Use this table as a sorting tool, not a substitute for checking your facts.
| Expense | Usual starting point | What changes the answer? |
|---|---|---|
| Flights or transport from home to your regular point of hire or worksite | Often private home-to-work travel | Your regular workplace, point of hire, employment duties, who booked and paid, and whether travel is between workplaces |
| Travel between worksites during a shift | May be deductible when undertaken in your employment duties | Employer direction, itinerary, purpose and reimbursement |
| Camp accommodation, groceries and ordinary meals | Generally private living expenses | Whether you are travelling overnight in performing duties rather than living away from home, plus allowances or reimbursement |
| Protective clothing and PPE | May be deductible when genuinely protective and paid by you | Work use, private use and reimbursement |
| Conventional clothing | Generally not deductible | A dress code or employer requirement alone does not usually change its private character |
| Laundry | May be deductible for eligible protective, occupation-specific or registered compulsory uniform items | Clothing eligibility, actual cost and calculation records |
| Tools and equipment | Work-related portion may be deductible | Cost, work-use percentage, private use, reimbursement and whether decline in value applies |
| Phone and internet | Work-related portion may be deductible | A reasonable usage calculation and records |
| Tickets, licences and training | Depends on connection to your current duties | Maintaining current skills differs from qualifying for a new job or new occupation |
| Union or professional fees | May be deductible | The fee's connection to your current employment and who paid it |
When a row says “may”, save the evidence and check the detailed ATO rule before claiming.
Are FIFO flights and travel deductible?
This is the area most likely to be oversimplified. The ATO's employee transport ruling says ordinary travel between home and a regular place of work is private. Travel between work locations is ordinarily deductible when the employment is the reason for the trip. Travel from home to an alternative work location may also be deductible in some circumstances.
Distance, roster length and the fact that a flight is necessary do not by themselves decide the outcome. Before treating an airfare, bus, taxi or car trip as deductible, write down:
- Where your home, point of hire and regular workplace are.
- Whether the journey gets you to your regular work or occurs while performing your duties.
- Whether you travel to an alternative workplace or between workplaces at your employer's direction.
- Who paid, reimbursed or salary-packaged the cost.
Keep your contract, mobilisation instructions, itinerary, roster and reimbursement record together. Those documents help a tax professional understand the actual arrangement. For the underlying distinction, see the ATO's employee transport ruling TR 2021/1.
Accommodation and meals require similar care. Day-to-day accommodation and food are generally private living costs. Paying them yourself does not automatically make them deductible. The tax treatment can differ when an employee is travelling overnight in performing employment duties, so do not copy another worker's claim without comparing the arrangements.
PPE, clothing, tools and phone use
Protective items you buy for work may qualify where they protect you from a real risk of illness or injury and you are not reimbursed. Examples can include safety glasses, gloves, steel-capped boots and protective clothing suited to the hazard. Keep the receipt and note the role or task for which you use the item.
Ordinary clothing is different. Jeans, shirts, socks and other conventional clothes are generally private, even if your employer requires a particular colour or style. Laundry claims depend on the clothing itself being eligible; washing ordinary work clothes does not become deductible just because they get dirty on site.
For tools, equipment, a phone or internet service, separate work use from private use. A usage diary, itemised bill or another reasonable record can support the percentage. Higher-cost equipment may need to be claimed through decline in value rather than all at once. The ATO's mining-site employee guide gives occupation-specific examples and links to the current calculation rules.
Tickets, licences and training
A course can be deductible when it maintains or improves the specific skills you use in your current employment, or is likely to increase income from those current duties. It is generally not deductible when it is designed to help you obtain new employment or move into a different occupation.
That distinction matters in FIFO. A worker renewing or extending skills used in an existing role may have a different outcome from a job seeker paying for initial tickets to become eligible for their first site role. Employer support or a course being “useful for FIFO” is not enough on its own.
Keep the course outline, invoice, payment evidence and a short note explaining how the content relates to duties you were performing when you incurred the cost. The ATO's self-education guidance explains this current-employment connection.
Five FIFO tax myths to avoid
“FIFO flights are always deductible”
No. Ordinary home-to-work travel is generally private, while travel in the course of employment can be deductible. The route, regular workplace, duties and payment arrangement all matter.
“Working at a remote mine means I get the zone tax offset”
Not necessarily. The ATO bases zone-offset eligibility on your usual place of residence. A FIFO worker who works in a qualifying remote area but does not live there is not eligible on that fact alone. Check the current Australian zone list and eligibility guidance.
“Anything under $300 needs no proof”
There is no automatic $300 deduction. If total deductible work expenses covered by the concession are $300 or less, written evidence may not be required, but you must still have spent the money and be able to show how you calculated the claim. Some categories have separate rules. Receipts remain the safer habit.
“If my employer requires it, I can claim it”
Not on that fact alone. Conventional clothing can remain private even under a dress standard. The direct connection, nature of the expense, private use and reimbursement still matter.
“Everything I buy for camp is a work expense”
No. Toiletries, groceries, alcohol and ordinary personal items are generally private living costs. A remote location or long roster does not automatically convert them into work-related deductions.
Build a FIFO tax-time record pack
Set up one folder for each income year and save records during the swing, not months later. Include:
- receipts and invoices showing the supplier, date, item and amount
- your income statement and payslips, including allowances
- employer reimbursement and salary-packaging records
- contracts, mobilisation instructions, itineraries and roster records for travel questions
- a tool, phone or internet work-use diary and the calculation you used
- course outlines and notes connecting training to your current duties
- notes for any expense with mixed work and private use.
An allowance does not automatically make the same amount deductible. Record the allowance and the actual expense separately, then check the income and deduction treatment that applies.
The ATO says written evidence is generally needed for work expenses and that a bank statement alone will often be insufficient because it may not identify the item or service. Its record-keeping guidance and myDeductions tool can help you keep evidence as you go.
When to ask for tax help
Get fact-specific help when you paid significant travel or accommodation costs, worked from changing sites, received allowances, salary-packaged flights, carried mixed-use equipment, or are unsure whether a location is your regular workplace. Bring the documents above to a registered tax agent rather than asking for a yes-or-no answer without the arrangement.
For a starting point, use the ATO's mining-site employee guide and occupation toolkit. This article does not replace ATO guidance or personal tax advice.
If you are comparing your income statement with current market pay, read the FIFO salaries guide for Australia. If tax time has prompted you to review your next move, you can also browse current FIFO jobs without treating advertised pay or benefits as a tax outcome.
