How much can you claim for laundry and work clothing?

It’s a question we’ve all asked in our lives when doing our first tax return. Looking down the list of tax deductible expenses your eyes are instantly drawn to it: uniform and laundry expenses. If you’re living at home, you’re most likely outsourcing your laundry to your parents. But as most of us have done, you really want to know if you can claim anything to maximise your return.

Luckily the answer is yes in many circumstances. In Australia, you can get a tax deduction for work clothing and laundry expenses. However, it has to meet particular requirements to qualify as work-related clothing. It can be difficult to navigate all the guidelines, so we commonly get questions like:

• Can I claim work uniforms on taxes?
• How much can I claim for laundry expenses?
• Is dry cleaning and clothing repair deductible?

This guide is for employees claiming work-related expenses in their own Australian tax return. It covers what clothing qualifies, how much you can claim for laundry, the records you need, and a change to the record-keeping rules from the 2026–27 income year. It was checked against the ATO’s guidance on 8 October 2026.

What can you claim as a laundry expense?

For taxation purposes, clothing and laundry expenses refer to the cost of buying, repairing, and cleaning work-related gear (garments and footwear).

According to the Australian Taxation Office (ATO), you can claim the costs you incur to clean eligible work clothing. Mainly, the deduction covers the cost of washing, drying and ironing the clothes, including laundromat costs. However, you can’t claim if your employer launders or repairs the clothes for you, or reimburses you for the cost.

The amount you can claim depends on whether you launder the clothes at home, at a laundromat, or at the dry cleaner (see later section for more details). In addition, any repair costs for the eligible gear are part of the deduction.

Types of clothing you can claim

While taxation laws allow deductions for various categories of work-related attire, any conventional or everyday clothing you wear to work does not qualify, even if your employer requires it or you only wear it at work.

Work clothing that may be eligible falls into four categories.

• Occupation-specific clothing
• Protective clothing
• Compulsory uniforms
• Non-compulsory uniforms

Occupation-specific clothing

Occupation-specific clothing refers to work attire that specifically identifies you with a particular profession. These are mainly distinct uniforms that employees would not wear in everyday situations other than their jobs.

For instance, let’s say your employer’s dress policy requires employees to don navy blue suits and light blue shirts and blouses. You cannot claim the cost of purchase and maintenance as a tax deduction under occupation-specific clothing since the attire can be worn in multiple professions.

However, a chef can claim the cost of buying and cleaning chequered chef’s pants, because they distinctly identify the occupation. (A nurse who wears anti-bacterial scrubs or non-slip nurse’s shoes may be able to claim them as protective clothing, covered below.)

Examples of occupation-specific clothing

• A chef’s chequered pants
• A judge’s robe

Clothing that may be worn in several professions, such as a bartender’s black trousers and white shirt or a business suit, does not qualify.

Protective clothing

Protective clothing is clothing and footwear you wear to protect you from the real and likely risk of illness or injury from your work, or to stop your ordinary clothes being damaged or soiled. According to the ATO, the items must have protective features or functions and give a sufficient degree of protection against the risk.

Conventional clothing doesn’t qualify just because it gives some protection. For example, a building site worker who wears jeans and a long-sleeved shirt that give limited protection from abrasions can’t claim them. If you also wear protective clothing for private activities, you can only claim the work-related portion.

Examples of protective clothing

• Fire-resistant clothing
• Aprons
• Sun protection clothing with a UPF rating
• Smocks
• Safety-coloured vests
• Non-slip nurse’s shoes
• Overalls
• Boiler suits
• Steel-capped or rubber safety boots
• Gloves

Compulsory work uniform

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

According to the ATO, a compulsory uniform must either:

• Be distinctive to your organisation, so a casual observer can tell who you work for
• Identify the products or services your organisation offers

A single item, such as a jumper, can qualify if it is distinctive and compulsory, for example because it carries your employer’s logo permanently and isn’t available to the public. Shoes, socks and stockings qualify only in limited cases, where your employer’s uniform policy specifies them as an essential, distinctive part of the uniform.

However, if your employer requires you to wear a certain type of clothing that is conventional clothing, you cannot claim it, even with a name badge pinned on. Unbranded black pants and white shirts worn by hotel staff would not qualify.

Examples of compulsory work uniforms

• Police officers’ uniform
• Military personnel uniform
• Airline staff uniform
• Nurses’ uniform
• Embroidered supermarket staff uniform

Non-compulsory work uniform

Non-compulsory work uniform refers to employee work gear that’s not mandatory to wear at work. Most non-compulsory work uniforms do not qualify for a deduction, with one exception.

To qualify, your employer must have registered the design on the Register of Approved Occupational Clothing, and you must wear it at work. If you’re not sure whether your uniform is registered, ask your employer.

Example of a non-compulsory work uniform

• A bus company’s suit in the company colour with its logo, registered on the Register of Approved Occupational Clothing, that staff are encouraged but not required to wear

Note that a single item, such as a shirt, can’t form part of a non-compulsory uniform unless it is a full-body item such as a dress or overalls. Shoes, stockings and underwear can never form part of a non-compulsory uniform.

How much can you claim for laundry?

As earlier mentioned, if your employer does your laundry, you cannot claim the expense. The same applies if they reimburse for the cost you incur.

However, if you did the laundry at home or at a laundromat, or used a dry cleaner, you can claim as follows:

At-home laundry

• $1 per load (eligible clothing)
• 50c per load (if the load contains eligible clothing plus personal items)

The ATO treats $1 and 50c a load as a reasonable basis for washing, drying and ironing. You don’t have to use it: you can claim your actual costs instead, but you’ll need records to show how you worked them out.

At a laundromat

• The same reasonable basis ($1 or 50c per load), or your actual laundromat costs

Dry cleaning and repairs

• The actual cost you paid

If your employer pays you a laundry allowance, the allowance is assessable income that you must include in your tax return, and you can only claim what you actually spent, not the amount of the allowance.

How to claim laundry expenses

The record-keeping rules change from the 2026–27 income year, so check which year you’re claiming for.

2025–26 and earlier years. If your laundry claim (washing, drying and ironing, not dry cleaning) is $150 or less, you don’t need written evidence for it, but you must be able to show how you worked it out, such as a record of the number of loads. You need written evidence, such as diary entries and receipts, if your laundry claim is more than $150 and your total work-related expenses are more than $300. Dry cleaning and repairs need receipts once your total work-related expenses are more than $300.

2026–27 and later years. If you claim clothing, laundry, dry-cleaning or repair expenses, keep records for all of them: receipts for purchases, dry-cleaning and repairs; and for home laundry on the $1 or 50c basis, a record of the number and type of loads and evidence you incurred laundry costs (ATO draft guidance, LCR 2026/D5). From 2026–27, eligible employees also receive an automatic standard deduction of up to $1,000 for work-related expenses without needing records, which is reduced by any clothing and laundry expenses you claim instead. For details, see the ATO’s standard deduction page.

For purchases, repairs and dry cleaning, your receipt or other record should show:

• The name or business name of the supplier
• The amount you spent
• What you paid for
• The date you paid
• The date the receipt or document was produced

The ATO allows you to claim laundry expenses for eligible work-related clothing. They categorise the eligible items into occupation-specific clothing, protective clothing, compulsory work uniforms, and registered non-compulsory work uniform.

If you’re doing the laundry at home or at a laundromat, you can claim $1 per load, or 50c if you launder the clothing alongside other items, or your actual costs.

For repairs and dry cleaning, you can claim the actual cost. Keep your records for 5 years, and from the 2026–27 income year keep records for every clothing and laundry expense you claim.

If you run a business, Visory runs bookkeeping and payroll for growing businesses, so your records are organised and ready when it’s time for your accountant or tax agent to lodge. Book a discovery call to learn how we can help get your books in order.