Can you claim tax deductions without receipts?

If you’re wondering what you can claim on tax without receipts, this guide may help. In Australia, employees can claim a deduction for many out-of-pocket expenses they incur in earning their income. These include work-related travel expenses, some clothing and equipment costs, union fees, and other professional expenses.

The Australian Taxation Office (ATO) generally requires a record, usually a receipt, to support a deduction. So what happens if you are missing receipts? The answer depends on the income year. The record-keeping exceptions most people mean when they ask this question apply up to the 2025–26 income year (the return lodged in 2026), and they change from 1 July 2026 when a new standard deduction for work-related expenses starts.

This guide covers work-related expenses for individuals who earn salary or wages. If you’re a sole trader, your business expenses follow the business record-keeping rules: keep records of every business expense for 5 years.

Australian Taxation Office rules for claiming tax deductions

To claim a deduction for a work-related expense, the ATO says:

• you must have spent the money yourself and not been reimbursed
• the expense must directly relate to earning your income
• you must have a record to prove it (usually a receipt).

If an expense is for both work and private purposes, you can only claim the work-related part. According to the ATO, written evidence such as a receipt or invoice should show the cost, the supplier’s name, the nature of the expense, the date you paid and the date the document was prepared. You also need a note of how you worked out your claim. There are some exceptions to this rule, set out below.

What can you claim without receipts?

For the 2025–26 and earlier income years, the ATO allows a few record-keeping exceptions. None of them is an automatic deduction: you still need to show you spent the money and how you worked out your claim.

• Small expenses: expenses of $10 or less each, where you couldn’t get a receipt, can be recorded in a diary or phone note made as soon as possible, provided your total for small expenses is $200 or less for the year.
• Laundry: work-related laundry (not dry-cleaning) of $150 or less can be claimed without receipts, worked out at $1 a load for work clothes only or 50c a load for mixed loads. This applies even if your total work-related claims are more than $300.
• Car expenses using cents per kilometre: no receipts are needed, but you must be able to show how you worked out your work kilometres (the rate is 88c a km for 2025–26, up to 5,000 km per car).

The $300 rule

Up to and including the 2025–26 income year, if your total claim for work-related expenses is $300 or less, you can claim without full written evidence, as long as you can show you spent the money and how you calculated the claim (for example, amounts highlighted on a bank statement with a note explaining each one). If your total is more than $300, you generally need written evidence for the full claim, not only the amount above $300. Eligible laundry expenses of $150 or less retain their separate substantiation exception for these earlier years, even when the total work-expense claim exceeds $300. The $300 limit doesn’t cover car expenses, meal allowance expenses, award transport payment expenses or travel allowance expenses, which have their own rules.

From 1 July 2026 this changes. From the 2026–27 income year, eligible Australian residents who earn salary or wages receive a standard deduction of up to $1,000 for work-related expenses, applied automatically, with no need to keep records for it. Actual deductions covered by the standard deduction reduce it dollar for dollar. Eligible union fees and professional or trade association subscriptions can be claimed separately with records, as can tax-agent fees and other deductions excluded from the standard deduction. From 2026–27 the $300, $150 laundry and award transport exceptions end. If you claim more than the standard deduction you still need records for everything you claim: receipts, diary records for small expenses of $10 or less (up to $200 a year), or kilometre records for cents per km. The standard deduction is not available in 2025–26 returns.

Whichever year you’re claiming for, keep your records for 5 years from the date you lodge your tax return.

Examples of tax deductions

Businesses and individuals can claim deductions on their tax returns. A deduction lowers your taxable income, so you could end up paying less tax. Examples of deductions individuals can claim include:

Lodging your taxes

The cost of managing your tax affairs is deductible. For instance, if you pay a registered tax agent to prepare and lodge your return or give you tax advice, you can generally claim the fee. Other costs you can claim include:

• Travel expenses incurred when you travel to meet with your agent for professional advice
• The fees involved with preparing and lodging your tax return and activity statements
• Litigation costs for tax disputes, such as court and tribunal fees and legal costs

Interest the ATO charges (general interest charge) is not deductible if it is incurred on or after 1 July 2025. You may also be able to claim part of the cost of software you use to manage your tax affairs, but only the part that relates to that use. These costs don’t reduce the standard deduction from 2026–27, so you claim them separately and need records for them.

Car expenses

If you use your own car for work (other than normal travel between home and work), you can claim a deduction for the cost of running it.

What it includes:

• Fuel
• Oil
• Repairs
• Maintenance

You can calculate your claim using the cents per kilometre method (88c a km for 2025–26 and 91c a km for 2026–27, up to 5,000 work km per car) or the logbook method, which needs a logbook and records of your car expenses.

Home office expenses

If you work from home, you can claim the additional running costs you incur, such as energy, internet, phone and stationery. Employees generally can’t claim occupancy costs such as rent, mortgage interest or home insurance. Under the ATO fixed rate method, you claim a set rate for each hour you work from home (70c an hour for 2024–25 and 2025–26).

For the fixed rate method you need:

• a record of the actual hours you worked from home for the whole year (estimates are not accepted)
• at least one record, such as a bill, for each running expense the rate covers
• records for any equipment you claim separately, such as a desk or computer

Work-related travel expenses

Some work-related travel expenses are deductible. Many businesses reimburse employees for travel costs. If you’re reimbursed, you can’t claim it.

What travel expenses include:

• Airfares
• Accommodation
• Car hire

Clothing and uniform expenses

You can claim the cost of protective clothing, occupation-specific clothing and a compulsory or registered uniform, plus the cost of washing it. You can’t claim everyday clothing, even if your employer asks you to wear it.

Education and professional development

You can claim self-education costs if the course has a sufficient connection to your current job, for example because it maintains or improves the skills you use in it, and your employer didn’t reimburse you.

How to track receipts and expenses

Tracking your receipts and expenses helps show proof of your spending. The ATO accepts photos of receipts and other digital records. The myDeductions tool in the ATO app can help individuals, and sole traders with simple affairs, keep these records and upload them to myTax or share them with a tax agent.

Businesses with more than simple affairs usually track their expenses in accounting software, often with receipt capture tools such as Dext or the receipt capture built into Xero. Working with an online bookkeeping service can also help you keep your expense records complete and in order for tax time.

How can you claim tax deductions without receipts?

A receipt is the simplest record, but it isn’t the only one. Depending on the expense, the ATO also recognises the records below.

Here are some examples of records you might also have:

Bank statements

A bank or credit card statement shows the date, amount and who you paid. On its own it isn’t written evidence, because it doesn’t come from the supplier and usually doesn’t show what you bought. Paired with a note or other document explaining the purchase, it can support a claim under the $300 rule up to 2025–26, or help if the ATO considers relief for missing records.

Logbooks

A logbook is a detailed record of vehicle use over a set period. If you use the logbook method for car expenses, the logbook shows the work-use percentage you apply to your car costs.

It records your odometer readings and each work trip, so the ATO can see how many kilometres you drove for work out of the total.

Work Diary

A diary or calendar entry is a record of work-related activities, such as dates, hours worked and tasks. The ATO accepts diary records for small expenses of $10 or less (up to $200 in total) where you couldn’t get a receipt, and for expenses where a receipt is hard to get, as long as the entry is made as soon as possible and records the supplier, amount, what you bought and the dates.

What records you can’t use for tax deductions

The ATO is unlikely to accept these on their own:

• a bank or card statement with no other document explaining the purchase
• an estimate of hours worked from home made after the fact
• a cash payment with no receipt or other document
• copies that aren’t a true and clear copy of the original record

How do you get the most out of tax deductions?

There are a few things you can do to make sure you claim everything you’re entitled to.

1. Keep records: keep records of your expenses in case the ATO reviews your claim. This includes receipts, invoices and diary or logbook records.
2. Know the rules: check which exceptions apply to the year you’re claiming for, and whether the standard deduction (from 2026–27) is worth more to you than your actual expenses.
3. Get help: if you’re unsure about something or need help working out your deductions, speak to a registered tax agent.

A registered tax agent can help you:

• Understand the rules and make sure you’re claiming deductions correctly.
• Work out your deductions so you don’t miss anything.
• Lodge your tax return on time.

You can only claim deductions for expenses that relate to earning your income. A registered tax agent can confirm what applies to your situation.

The Bottom Line

Up to the 2025–26 income year, you can claim some work-related expenses without receipts: a total of $300 or less, laundry up to $150, small expenses recorded in a diary, and car expenses using cents per kilometre (the cents per kilometre method continues from 2026–27, at 91c a km, with no receipts but a record of your work kilometres). In each case you still need to show you spent the money and how you worked out the claim.

From 1 July 2026, eligible Australian residents who earn salary or wages receive a standard deduction of up to $1,000 without records. The $300, $150 laundry and award transport exceptions end. If you claim more than the standard deduction, you still need records for everything you claim: receipts, diary records for small expenses of $10 or less (up to $200 a year), or kilometre records for cents per km.

Keep records for 5 years from the date you lodge your return, and speak to a registered tax agent if you’re unsure what you can claim.

Contact Visory Today

If you run a business, clean records make tax time simpler. Visory runs bookkeeping, payroll, accounts payable and accounts receivable for growing businesses, with a dedicated team and our AI, Delphi, overseen by that team, so your records are complete and ready for your tax agent. Book a discovery call to see how it works for your business.