Doctor equipment, journals and clothing deductions

The kit you buy for yourself as a doctor is real money, and how you claim it turns on one number more than any other. A stethoscope, a pen torch, the surgical loupes a trainee saves up for, the reference library that follows you from term to term, the scrubs you change into: each of these is claimable on the right terms, and each has a wrong way to claim it that costs you or invites a question. The rules split cleanly into three. Equipment runs on the $300 line, books and subscriptions run on the professional library, and clothing runs on whether it protects you or is simply what you wear. Sort each purchase into the right group and the claim follows.

Equipment and the $300 rule

The instruments you fund yourself are deductible for the work-use portion, and how you claim each one depends on what it cost. This is the mechanic behind the whole equipment side of your return.

• $300 or less. A stethoscope, dermatoscope, pen torch, tourniquet or other diagnostic tool that costs $300 or less is claimed in full the year you buy it.
• Over $300. Anything above the line is claimed as the decline in value spread across its effective life, not written off at once.
• Surgical loupes are the classic catch. Loupes almost always cost well over $300, so they are depreciated over their effective life rather than claimed in the year of purchase. Surgical trainees routinely try to claim the full amount up front, and that is the error the ATO looks for.
• Apportion private use and part-year ownership. Claim only the work-use share of anything you also use privately, and if you bought it partway through the year, count only the days you held it.

Two costs sit alongside the purchase and follow their own logic. Insurance on your work equipment is deductible for the work-use portion, and so are repairs, regardless of the $300 line, because you are keeping a work instrument working. The one thing that removes a claim entirely is the hospital supplying the equipment: if you did not pay for it, there is nothing to deduct.

Journals, subscriptions and the professional library

Your reference material is deductible where it relates to your work, and it follows the same $300 logic as equipment, with one twist about sets that catches people.

• A single book or journal $300 or less used mainly for work is claimed in full the year you buy it.
• Over $300, or part of a set. A book above the line, or a group of books bought together that come to more than $300, is claimed as the decline in value over the effective life of your professional library rather than at once.
• Subscriptions and software. UpToDate, clinical databases and work software sit here for the work-related portion. A multi-year prepaid subscription is spread across the whole period it covers, not claimed in the year you pay.

Keep one boundary clean. A textbook you claim as self-education for a course is not also a library deduction. Count each item once, on whichever basis fits, and do not run the same book through both.

Scrubs, protective gear and clothing that counts

What you wear on the ward splits at tax time, and the line is protection. Items that guard you or your own clothing against a genuine work risk come back to you; ordinary clothing does not, however firmly the roster requires it.

• Scrubs, lab coats and surgical caps that protect you or your clothing are deductible, along with enclosed non-slip protective shoes.
• PPE. Masks, face shields, goggles, gloves and sanitiser qualify where they guard against a real and likely risk of the work.
• The laundry of the deductible items counts too, covered in the next section.

The other half is where claims fall over. A plain white lab coat is not occupation-specific, because many professions wear one, so it does not qualify on its own. Plain business attire, plain trousers and everyday closed shoes are conventional clothing and never deductible, even where the hospital mandates them. There is no claim for laundry the hospital does for you, because you paid nothing. Prescription glasses and contacts are private. A fob watch or a watch with a genuine special function can be claimed under the $300 rule, but an ordinary watch or a smart watch generally cannot.

Laundry

Once a garment is deductible, washing it is too, and the ATO accepts a set rate rather than a shoebox of receipts.

• $1 a load where the wash holds only your work clothing.
• 50c a load where the work clothing goes in with your personal washing.
• The $150 line. If your laundry claim comes to $150 or less, you need no written evidence, but you still have to show how you worked the figure out, from loads a week across the weeks you worked.
• Dry-cleaning and repairs at what they actually cost you, on the receipts.

Records

Every item above stands on its record. Keep the receipt for each purchase showing the date, supplier, item and cost, and for the bigger equipment and library items keep the decline-in-value details, the effective life and the running written-down value, so this year's slice is easy to carry forward. Note how you split work and private use on anything you also use at home. If your total work-related claims come to more than $300 across the year, you need written evidence for all of them, not only the large items. The ATO's free myDeductions app will hold receipts and your work-use notes if you enter them as you go.

The bottom line

Sort every purchase into its group. Equipment $300 or less comes off in full this year, anything over is depreciated over its life, and the loupes and the pricier instruments belong in the second column even when a trainee wishes otherwise. Books and subscriptions follow the same line under the professional library, counted once and never double-claimed against self-education. Scrubs, caps and PPE that protect you are deductible and so is washing them, while the plain lab coat, the business clothes and the everyday shoes are not, whatever the hospital requires. Net off anything supplied or reimbursed, keep the receipts and the decline-in-value detail, and your kit lands on your return where it belongs.

General information only, not tax advice. Check the ATO or a registered tax agent for your situation.