Nurse tax return checklist for 2026

You spend your working life looking after other people, and a fair bit of what you spend to do the job comes out of your own pocket. At tax time a lot of that is claimable, and a lot of it quietly goes unclaimed, usually because remembering a whole year of shifts in one sitting is genuinely hard. This checklist is here to take that weight off. Work through it before you lodge and you will catch the deductions that are honestly yours. The rule behind every one of them is the same, and worth keeping in mind as you go: if you paid for it, it helped you earn your nursing income, and you kept a record, you can claim it.

Before you start, gather these

A few minutes now saves the scramble later. Have these close by:

• Your income statement. Most employers finalise it in myGov by mid-July, so wait for the "Tax ready" status before you lodge.
• Any agency or second-job income. Each employer reports separately, so it is worth checking every one is showing up.
• Your receipts for the year. Uniform, equipment, registration, courses, and anything else you bought for work.
• Your car records. A logbook, or a tally of the work kilometres if you drive between workplaces.
• Your bank and card statements. The safety net for the direct debits that are easy to forget, like your registration and union fees.

The deduction checklist

Go through each line and tick the ones you paid for this year. Where you can, make sure you have the record to back it up, because that is what turns a fair claim into a safe one.

Uniforms, clothing and laundry

• Compulsory or logo uniform. Both the purchase and the washing are claimable.
• Protective items. Gloves, gowns, aprons and the non-slip shoes the ward requires.
• Laundry. The ATO sets a per-load rate for washing eligible uniforms; if your total laundry claim is $150 or less you need no written evidence, though you still have to show how you worked it out.

Clothing is the area with the most catches, especially around shoes and the everyday scrubs you bought yourself. If you want the detail, our guide on what nurses can claim for shoes, laundry and uniforms walks through it properly.

Equipment and tools

• Items $300 or less. A fob watch, penlight or bandage scissors come off in full the year you buy them.
• Items over $300. A good stethoscope, say, is claimed a little each year as it wears out.
• Repairs and insurance on that equipment.

Registration, memberships and checks

• AHPRA registration renewal. Your annual renewal, not the first registration that got you into nursing.
• Union or professional association fees. Your ANMF or college membership, in full.
• Working-with-children or police check renewals needed for your current role.
• Your own indemnity or income-protection insurance premiums, if you hold them.

Self-education and training

• CPD and courses that maintain or improve the skills you use in your current role.
• Course fees, textbooks, stationery and the travel to attend.
• The catch. Study to move into a different job, or to first qualify, is not deductible.

Phone, internet and home use

• The work share of your phone and internet, worked out from a typical four-week period rather than guessed.
• Working-from-home hours, if you do genuine work at home such as rostering, handover notes or mandatory online training.

Car and travel

• Driving between workplaces on the same day, or to a second job. Two methods are allowed: cents per kilometre, or a logbook.
• The catch. Your everyday trip in and home again is private, whatever the shift or the distance.

Overtime meals

• Meals bought on overtime can be claimed only where you were paid an overtime meal allowance under your award, and within the ATO's reasonable amount.

What to leave off

A few costs feel work-related but are not deductible, and claiming them is where returns get flagged:

• The commute. Home to work and back stays private no matter the distance you drive or the hours your roster happens to land on.
• Everyday clothing and plain shoes, even if you only wear them on shift.
• Grooming. Haircuts and cosmetics, even where the workplace expects a certain look.
• First registration and your qualifying study. The cost of getting into nursing, not of doing it.
• Anything your employer reimbursed. If it was paid back to you, you can't claim it again.

Keep the records, or the claim falls over

Here is the part that quietly costs nurses the most: a deduction is only as good as the record behind it. Keep the receipt and a quick note of any work-and-home split, and a fair claim becomes a safe one. The knack is banking each cost the moment it lands, because a year pieced back together the night before you lodge is a year of quiet losses. The ATO's free myDeductions tool covers the basics.

The bottom line

Run this checklist once before you lodge and the deductions that usually slip through, the registration on direct debit, the fob watch, the laundry, the CPD, land back where they belong: on your return. Claim what you paid for and can show, leave the private costs off, and your bill settles on your real income once the genuine work costs are stripped out. You earned every bit of it, and this is just making sure you keep your share.

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