Tax deductions for electricians
As an electrician you can generally claim the test instruments and insulated tools you buy yourself, the renewals that keep your licence and endorsements current, and travel between sites.
Electrical work carries a claim profile that other trades don’t: instruments that need calibrating, gear rated for arc flash, and a licence that only stays valid if you keep paying to renew it. Those are the categories worth getting right.
The three rules for any claim
- You paid for it yourself and weren’t reimbursed.
- It directly relates to earning your income.
- You have a record — a receipt, invoice or bank statement.
Checked against ATO guidance: September 2026
What you can usually claim
Test instruments and insulated tools
Multimeters, insulation and loop testers, clamp meters, test-and-tag equipment and insulated hand tools bought for work. How you claim depends on how you work. On wages, an item costing $300 or less can generally be claimed in full that year, provided it is not part of a set, or one of several near-identical items, costing more than $300 together. On an ABN that rule does not apply: business assets are claimed over their effective life, or under a small-business write-off in the years one is available. Calibration, servicing and repairs to keep an instrument usable are claimed as running costs in the year you pay them, separately from the instrument itself.
Licence renewals, endorsements and accreditations
Renewing the electrical licence you already hold, a restricted electrical worker licence, a working-at-heights or elevated work platform ticket, or an accreditation you maintain to keep doing a class of work — these are generally deductible. The qualification and first licence that let you enter the trade are not.
Arc-rated and insulated protective gear
Arc-rated clothing, insulated gloves and mats, safety glasses, hard hat, hearing protection, steel-capped boots and hi-vis, plus the cost of laundering protective items. Protective by design is the test — not simply clothing you happen to wear on site.
Travel between sites and to jobs
Driving from one job to another during the day is generally claimable. How you calculate it depends on the vehicle. The logbook and cents-per-kilometre methods apply only to a car — built to carry under one tonne and fewer than nine passengers — with cents-per-kilometre capped at 5,000 work-related kilometres a year. Many utes and larger vans carry a tonne or more, are not cars for this purpose, and have their running costs claimed at actual cost apportioned to work use, with records to support the split. Check the payload on the compliance plate rather than assuming. The commute from home to a single regular workplace is not. Carrying bulky equipment home can qualify, but two things have to hold together: your employer requires you to use it for work, and there is nowhere secure to leave it at the workplace. One without the other is still an ordinary commute.
Standards, references and continuing education
The wiring rules and other standards you buy to do the job, technical references, and training or refresher courses that maintain the skills your current income depends on. Training that qualifies you for different work altogether generally sits outside this.
Buying bigger gear: what happens at tax time
A four-figure test set behaves differently from the tools around it. On an ABN with GST registration the GST credit lands on the activity statement for the period you bought it, while the cost itself is claimed over the instrument’s effective life — and the calibration you pay for every year is a separate running-cost claim on top. Private use trims the yearly deduction rather than the value carried on the register.
General information, not personal tax advice. What you can claim depends on your circumstances — check the ATO's own occupation guides or a registered tax agent, and keep records for every claim.
Keep in mind
- The apprenticeship, qualification and first licence that got you into the trade.
- Plain clothes worn under hi-vis, however grubby they get on site.
- The daily commute from home to one regular workplace where your gear can be stored securely.
- Instruments, gear or licence fees your employer paid for or reimbursed.
Where mistakes happen
The claims most likely to get adjusted — not because they're disallowed outright, but because the split or the timing was off.
- Claiming a set of test instruments in full in the year of purchase when individual items cost more than $300 — the per-item cost is the test, not the total spend, and above it each instrument is claimed over its effective life unless a business write-off applies that year.
- Treating the first electrical licence as a renewal. Keeping a licence you already hold is generally deductible; getting the one that let you start is not.
- Claiming arc-rated clothing or insulated gear that the employer issued, which fails the "you paid for it and weren’t reimbursed" rule before the protective-clothing question is even reached.
Take it further
Your income tax, Medicare levy and take-home pay on any salary.
AI2Fin for tradies →The glovebox receipts, already sorted
Track it: the asset register →Log the instrument once and AI2Fin carries the effective life, the yearly deduction and the private-use share for you.
Depreciation (decline in value) →Claiming the cost of a big asset gradually over its life.
Effective life →How many years an asset is expected to be used — the base of every depreciation rate.
Instant asset write-off →Immediately deduct an eligible asset instead of depreciating it.
Logbook method (car expenses) →Claim your car’s real business-use share of running costs.
Cents per kilometre method →A simpler car claim — a set rate per business km, capped.
Electricians — common questions
Can I claim calibration on my test instruments?
Calibration, servicing and repairs that keep an instrument working are generally claimed as a running cost in the year you pay them, separately from the instrument’s own cost. That distinction matters, because the instrument above $300 is claimed over its effective life while the calibration is not. This is general information, not personal tax advice — what you can claim depends on your circumstances, so check with the ATO or a registered tax agent, and keep records to back up every claim.
Is my electrical licence renewal deductible?
Renewing a licence you already hold to keep earning your current income is generally deductible, as are endorsements and tickets you maintain for the same reason. The initial qualification and licence that let you enter the trade are treated differently and generally are not. This is general information, not personal tax advice — what you can claim depends on your circumstances, so check with the ATO or a registered tax agent, and keep records to back up every claim.
What about solar accreditation or a restricted electrical licence?
The same principle applies as to your main licence: renewing an accreditation or restricted licence you already hold, to keep doing work you already do, generally follows the licence-renewal rule. Getting accredited for a new class of work for the first time is a different question worth putting to your tax agent. This is general information, not personal tax advice — what you can claim depends on your circumstances, so check with the ATO or a registered tax agent, and keep records to back up every claim.
Can I claim the drive between jobs?
Travel between job sites during the working day is generally claimable; home to a single regular workplace is not. The method depends on the vehicle: logbook and cents-per-kilometre are only for cars, meaning under one tonne and fewer than nine passengers, while a heavier ute or van is claimed at actual cost. The records differ too: the logbook method rests on a valid 12-week logbook, while cents-per-kilometre rests on your work-related kilometres and a reasonable basis for how you worked them out. This is general information, not personal tax advice — what you can claim depends on your circumstances, so check with the ATO or a registered tax agent, and keep records to back up every claim.
Deductions for other occupations
See all occupations.
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